Can an app improve mental and physical health support for people with arthritis?

In partnership withMQ: Transforming Mental Health, we are proud to announce that Dr Sam Norton from King’s College London has won the 2016 Arthritis Research UK MQ Fellows award, to develop a new app aiming to explore mental and physical health support for people with arthritis.In the UK over 290,000 people live with rheumatoid arthritis, a condition that causes joint inflammation, pain, stiffness and fatigue. Around a third of these people also experience a mental health condition.Current drug treatments for rheumatoid arthritis can be helpful, but around 40% of people still experience ongoing pain, fatigue and mental health problems even when their inflammation has been reduced. A personalised treatment approach that accurately targets both physical and mental health symptoms could be transformative.Dr Sam Norton, a lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology& Neuroscience is creating an app to help healthcare professionals track symptoms and identify people with rheumatoid arthritis at risk of ongoing problems, including mental health issues. It aims to help healthcare professionals and people with rheumatoid arthritis select the most effective treatments and make the most of the time available in appointments.Dr Natalie Carter, head of research liaison at Arthritis Research UK, said:“We are happy to award this Fellows Award to Dr Norton for his research that has the potential to really transform the patient experience. Rheumatoid arthritis can...
Source: Arthritis Research UK - Category: Rheumatology Source Type: news