Along with other face-to-face physiotherapy treatments, the CLEAT study, looking at how to improve care for patients with early arthritis of the hip, has been paused during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Whilst our hospitals attend to the urgent needs of those with Covid-19, many patients with musculoskeletal conditions are managing their symptoms at home. In both the early and later stages of osteoarthritis, self-management strategies can help to control symptoms such as pain and stiffness. We have recently published a series of videos offering advice on self-managing hip osteoarthritis at home, which have been created using extracts from the CHAIN programme.
The advice is based upon the latest advice from the latest National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines for the treatment of osteoarthritis, which recommend exercise (local muscle strengthening and aerobic training), education and weight loss where necessary. The videos are delivered by our CHAIN team, which consists of experts from ORI and the Royal Bournemouth Hospital. The series includes advice on exercising with hip osteoarthritis, pain medications, diet and nutrition, assistive devices and alternative therapies.
Associate Professor Tom Wainwright said: ““Due to the suspension of face-to-face outpatient physiotherapy, and the closure of the Littledown Leisure Centre, we have paused our CLEAT study. We know that there will be many patients locally who may be suffering from hip pain, and so we have prepared these short education videos that we hope will be helpful for patients. We are also signposting suitable online exercise programmes and resources from the ORI website”.
Professor Robert Middleton said: “The collaboration between Bournemouth University and the NHS has been brilliant. With little time or resources, the two teams have come together to support people with arthritis in these challenging times and produced some very useful videos. I highly recommend viewing“.
The videos can be accessed here.