MSK health and other long term conditions
Recognising musculoskeletal (MSK) health as a foundation for managing long term conditions and improving outcomes across the health system.
Why this matters
Musculoskeletal (MSK) health is closely connected to many of the UK’s most significant long term conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, mental health conditions and frailty.
MSK conditions rarely exist in isolation. Many people living with long term conditions also experience MSK pain, reduced mobility or functional limitations that affect their ability to manage their health effectively.
Poor MSK health can make it harder for people to stay active, manage weight, attend appointments, maintain independence or participate fully in daily life. This can worsen outcomes for other conditions and increase demand across health and care services.
Improving MSK health therefore offers an important opportunity to:
- Support prevention and management of other long term conditions
- Improve healthy life expectancy
- Support independence and participation
- Reduce avoidable deterioration and disability
- Improve overall system outcomes.
Recognising the role of MSK health across long term conditions can help health systems move from treating individual diseases towards supporting whole-person health.
Our position
ARMA believes MSK health is one of the foundations of effective long term condition management.
Supporting mobility, function and independence is essential to helping people manage multiple conditions and maintain quality of life. Yet MSK health is often overlooked within long term condition strategies despite its major influence on outcomes and experience.
We believe effective long term condition strategies should:
- Recognise MSK health as essential to maintaining function and independence
- Integrate MSK expertise into long-term condition pathways
- Support rehabilitation and physical activity as core interventions
- Take a whole person approach rather than a disease-specific approach
- Recognise the links between MSK health, mental health and frailty.
ARMA believes MSK health provides a practical example of how more integrated approaches to long term conditions can improve outcomes while supporting prevention, independence and participation.
MSK health is not just another long term condition. It is what often enables people to live well with all of them.
As the collective voice of the MSK community, ARMA is working to ensure MSK health is better recognised within long term condition policy, prevention strategies and neighbourhood health development.
Our focus
ARMA is working with members and partners to strengthen recognition of MSK health within long term condition policy and practice.
Highlighting MSK as an enabling condition
Promoting understanding of how improving MSK health can support better outcomes across multiple long term conditions by maintaining function, mobility and independence.
Supporting integrated care approaches
Encouraging care models that address multiple conditions together and support whole person health rather than fragmented, disease specific care.
Promoting rehabilitation as core care
Highlighting the importance of rehabilitation and physical activity as routine components of long term condition management rather than optional additions.
Supporting prevention across conditions
Strengthening understanding of how prevention and early intervention for MSK conditions can support prevention and management of other long term conditions.
Strengthening the focus on function and participation
Encouraging greater focus on outcomes such as function, participation and quality of life alongside traditional clinical indicators.
Developing ARMA’s policy position
We are working with members to refine ARMA’s position on MSK health and long term conditions through consultation during 2026.
Through this work, ARMA aims to strengthen recognition of MSK health as essential to improving outcomes across long term conditions and supporting more integrated care.
Key resources
ARMA is developing its programme of work on MSK health and long term conditions.
Work in development
- MSK and other long term conditions policy paper (member consultation draft).
- Emerging ARMA work on MSK as an enabling condition.
ARMA develops policy positions in partnership with members and people with lived experience. This work will inform ARMA’s future policy recommendations.
Related insights
Our latest insights on MSK health and long-term conditions include:
- Blogs on MSK health and whole person care
- ARMA engagement with long term condition policy discussions
- Emerging thinking from ARMA members.
This reflects ARMA’s growing focus on the role of MSK health in improving outcomes across long term conditions.