Musculoskeletal Health
Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions are the second largest contributor to disability worldwide. The impact of MSK disease on a person’s everyday life in terms of cost, morbidity and mortality is significant. This burden of disease is comparable to cardiac disease and affects approximately 70% of Australians aged 45-64 years. The research into these conditions should be a priority to ensure that we use the most effective and affordable strategies to improve MSK health and prevent significant musculoskeletal decline across the ages.
Our team of internationally leading clinicians, researchers and educators have come together to reduce the gap between evidence and clinical practice in MSK disease.
Specific areas our team has targeted to date include osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and back pain. We have also targeted broader themes such as obesity and adherence which have a significant impact on the many chronic conditions that make up musculoskeletal health. Despite their prevalence, musculoskeletal conditions have proven difficult to manage effectively in front line clinical care. Our team aims to work together to improve how the many and varied musculoskeletal conditions are diagnosed and managed, so that people have better outcomes and quality of life.
The team endeavours to build the capacity of health professionals through increased research collaborations and mentoring and facilitating educational and training opportunities to enable innovative health care delivery. We continue to educate the community and improve health literacy via active consumer engagement and participation to ensure care is provided in an equitable and sustainable manner – noting the broader health benefits to priority populations and the overall community through improved adherence, health promotion and access that extend beyond the delivery of musculoskeletal care.
Our Vision
Our Vision
To optimise MSK health and reduce community disease burden through investigation of interventions, the translation of high-quality evidence-based care for common conditions such as osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and back pain, and increasing community awareness.
Our Focus
Our Focus
Our areas of focus include:
- Low back pain
- Osteoarthritis
- Osteoporosis
- Musculoskeletal frailty
- Musculoskeletal Models of care
- Medication adherence and avoidance relevant to MSK conditions
- Consumer education
- Consumer-led research
- Partnering with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities
Our Projects
Our Projects
HITH4HIPS
HITH programs use ‘virtual beds’ to prevent hospital admissions and expedite patients’ return home after being in an acute hospital bed.
Bone Health Schools Program
We aim raise awareness of the importance of good bone health by educating young people about how to build healthy bones in order prevent serious problems occurring later in life.
TeleECHO
TeleECHO is a platform to discuss complex osteoporosis and bone health cases with a multidisciplinary panel of clinicians with specialist expertise in osteoporosis and metabolic bone diseases.
#STOP
This large-scale RCT is designed to determine the efficacy of Home Medicine Reviews conducted by pharmacists for deprescribing drugs that can cause falls and subsequent fractures in people with osteoporosis.
Natural Helper
The Natural Helper Program aims to facilitate consumer engagement with self-management by embedding culture-specific peer mentors with lived experience of chronic disease into existing health services.
OpioidHALT II
A randomised clinical trial comparing pharmacist-led opioid tapering program to usual care for people with chronic opioid use prior to total knee or hip arthroplasty.
Our Team
Collaborators
Collaborators
AAA Theme – HITH4HIPS
Ingham Institute of Applied Medical Research (HITH4HIPS)
School of Pharmacy, University of Sydney – OpioidHALT II, #STOP
Contact us
For more information on our work, contact Kristine Concepcion
