Musculoskeletal disorders force people out of work, and this Centre aims to keep them employed. The problem is enormous: back pain, arthritis, and other joint and muscle conditions are a leading cause of sickness absence and early retirement, yet employers and healthcare systems lack clear, evidence-based ways to manage them. This Centre brings together researchers, employers, and clinicians to close that gap. It has already trained early-career scientists and become a national resource for advice. Now it will develop larger programmes to measure the true burden of these conditions in workplaces—including rural settings—and test practical interventions. The team is building a prediction model to identify which patients are at high risk of long-term sick leave based on their early symptoms, and developing an app that sends targeted messages to people with low back pain to change their behaviour. They will also create a business case for employers to invest in workers’ health, and establish international consensus on how to measure work outcomes. If successful, the Centre will give employers, GPs, and policymakers concrete tools to keep people with musculoskeletal disorders working longer and more productively.
View original technical description
This Centre was established to address major research questions to minimise the adverse impacts of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in the workplace with benefits for patients, workers, employers and society at large. We created an integrated multi-disciplinary centre of excellence, developed 13 early career scientists and became recognised as a national resource for advice a. Our intention now is to develop larger programmes of research, complemented by cross-cutting themes, which will yield major impacts in the longer term, whilst continuing to develop researchers and influence policy-makers. Key goals: · Partnerships with small, medium-sized, public and commercial sector employers/managers enabling us to measure the burden of MSDs, and develop and test the feasibility of implementation of interventions to improve musculoskeletal health and support workers with MSDs · A prediction model which can define patients at high risk of long-term sickness absence from their early care-seeking behaviour and symptoms /characteristics · Understanding of what employment support should be given by whom, when, to improve work outcomes amongst people seeking healthcare with MSDs · An app which delivers targeted messages to people with low back pain and pilot data as to whether this approach changes back pain patients’ behaviour · To quantify the impact of MSDs (with/without comorbidities) on ability to work to older ages and what employers could do to enable older workers · Measurement of the burden of MSDs on work in rural settings and pilot feasibility work to intervene ·International consensus on standardisation of work outcome measures ·A business case for employers to inform investment in workers’ health ·Establishment as the national resource for all stakeholders · Cadre of trained researchers prepared to lead future research on MSDs and work · Additional competitive funding · Research publications, presentations and reports that feed into Government policy, and employment and clinical practice
Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.
Is something wrong? Let us know