The Australian-led program aims to help current and future health professional workforce better manage people with arthritis.
A consortium of world-leading arthritis experts known as ATLAS has launched an arthritis eLearning program for health professionals.
The evidence-based program for best-practice arthritis care is provided as a free access resource and aims to promote a person-centred approach that aims to transform patient outcomes.
Arthritis is one of the most common causes of disability and early retirement in Australia – creating significant economic burden and lowering quality of life for millions of people.
The number of Australians with arthritis is projected to increase from 4.11 million in 2025 to 5.39 million in 2040, of whom more than 1.1 million will be of working age.
The disease group is responsible for some of the highest costs to the Australian health system, with annual direct healthcare expenditure on osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis exceeding $5.26 billion. This is tipped to increase to $7.77 billion by 2040.
Much of this cost is driven by joint replacement surgery for osteoarthritis, projected to increase to unsustainable levels with the volume of total knee and hip replacements increasing by 276% and 208%, respectively, by 2030 at a cost of $5.32 billion.
Major evidence-practice gaps currently exist in arthritis care, with many people not receiving care consistent with clinical guidelines. ATLAS aims to change this by giving health professionals and trainees across Australia and internationally access to practical, evidence-based guidance for best-practice care.
Funded by the Australian Government and led by a consortium of internationally renowned experts including Professors David Hunter, Andrew Briggs, Kim Bennell, Rana Hinman, and Helen Slater, the ATLAS program was recently welcomed by assistant health minister Ged Kearney at Arthritis Australia’s parliamentary summit on better care for arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions.
The program has received significant international interest and was recently presented at the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) and the joint New Zealand and Australian Rheumatology Association Annual Scientific Meeting.
“We want all clinicians to have access to the tools to provide better care for the millions of Australians living with the pain and disability of arthritis, many of whom currently don’t have access to the evidence-based care that could help them avoid joint damage and more invasive treatments such as surgery,” said Professor Hunter, Florance and Cope Chair of Rheumatology, and consultant rheumatologist at Royal North Shore Hospital.
“The ATLAS program represents a fantastic opportunity to drive better care that will also help address unsustainable joint replacement surgery costs and waiting lists for osteoarthritis.”
ATLAS aims to equip the current and future health professional workforce with the knowledge to better manage people with arthritis. The free online platform is easily accessed, where a participant can create an account and move through flexible, modular learning sessions at their own pace.
“We have designed ATLAS for busy health professionals and students from a variety of disciplines and career stages, as a flexible and practical evidence-based resource to help them meet their professional goals,” said Ric Forlano, CEO of Arthritis and Osteoporosis WA.
ATLAS is informed by leading research and promotes a person-centred approach to arthritis care. One of our core mandates was to ensure that the course was person-centred—where people are assessed from a multi-disciplinary perspective and their individual goals are always the main consideration, said Mr Forlano.
This holistic approach to arthritis care was recommended in the Government’s 2019 National Strategic Action Plan for Arthritis, which highlighted the importance of developing comprehensive training resources for health professionals.
The program has been crafted to be relevant across all health disciplines. It offers engaging and interactive eLearning that can be completed asynchronously. ATLAS has the potential to be used by undergraduate and postgraduate students studying health-related degrees, such as Medicine, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Exercise Science among others where they will likely encounter people living with arthritis.
Consortium partners include University of Sydney, Arthritis and Osteoporosis Western Australia, the University of Melbourne, Curtin University, and the Australian Rheumatology Association, all brought together by Arthritis Australia.
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