Prevention
Creating the conditions for good musculoskeletal (MSK) health through prevention, early intervention and coordinated action across communities, workplaces and services.
Why this matters
Prevention is central to improving MSK health and reducing the growing impact of MSK conditions on individuals, communities and the health system.
Too often prevention is seen as something that happens in clinics once problems begin to appear. ARMA believes prevention must go much further. It means creating the conditions that support good MSK health so that people can stay active, independent and well for longer.
MSK conditions affect over 20 million people in the UK and are the leading cause of pain and disability. Many MSK conditions are preventable, and the progression of others can be slowed through earlier intervention, physical activity and timely support.
Prevention includes both reducing the risk of developing MSK conditions and preventing deterioration among people already living with MSK conditions. Supporting people to maintain movement, strength and function is fundamental to preventing disability and maintaining independence.
Poor MSK health is closely linked to some of the UK’s biggest challenges, including physical inactivity, obesity, workplace injury and health inequalities. Once established, MSK conditions often lead to chronic pain, reduced mobility, mental ill health and worklessness.
Improving MSK health through prevention offers one of the biggest opportunities to:
- Increase healthy life expectancy
- Reduce demand on NHS services
- Support people to remain in and return to work
- Reduce health inequalities
- Improve quality of life and independence.
Without stronger action on MSK prevention, ambitions to improve population health, increase economic participation and reduce pressure on health and care services will not be realised.
Investment in MSK prevention should be seen not as a cost, but as an investment in healthier lives, a stronger workforce and a more sustainable health and care system.
Our position
ARMA believes prevention must be at the heart of efforts to improve MSK health.
Prevention is everyone’s business. It requires coordinated action across healthcare, local government, employers, education, transport, housing and the voluntary sector. The NHS cannot deliver prevention alone.
Improving MSK health requires a shift from reacting to illness towards creating the conditions that support lifelong MSK health. This means supporting healthier environments, enabling movement in daily life and ensuring people can access timely advice and support.
ARMA supports both:
- Primary prevention — reducing risk factors such as inactivity, obesity and workplace injury.
- Secondary prevention — preventing deterioration, loss of function and avoidable disability through early intervention and support.
Prevention should take a whole life course approach, recognising that MSK health is shaped from childhood through to older age.
We believe prevention means creating health, not just delivering care. Good MSK health is shaped as much by social, economic and environmental conditions as by healthcare services.
MSK health provides a practical example of how prevention can work in practice, demonstrating how earlier support and healthier environments can improve outcomes while reducing pressure on services.
ARMA believes MSK health should be recognised as a priority within national prevention strategies because of its scale, its impact on healthy life expectancy and its contribution to wider health and economic outcomes.
Our focus
ARMA is working with members and partners to strengthen MSK prevention through three key areas of focus.
Start early and act across the life course
Good MSK health begins in childhood through physical literacy and opportunities to be active. It continues through adulthood with safe workplaces, active environments and access to early support for pain or injury, and into later life through falls prevention, rehabilitation and support to maintain independence.
ARMA promotes a whole life course approach to MSK prevention that supports healthy ageing and lifelong participation.
Join up systems and services
Prevention is most effective when it is embedded across sectors. ARMA supports neighbourhood MSK approaches that bring together GPs, allied health professionals, social prescribers, fitness providers, employers and voluntary organisations to offer early, coordinated support.
Integrated neighbourhood approaches can provide earlier help, improve outcomes and reduce pressure on acute services.
Create the conditions for good MSK health
Health is shaped by the conditions in which people live, work and connect. Preventing MSK problems means creating environments that support movement, inclusion and wellbeing.
This includes:
- Supporting physical activity and active environments
- Promoting healthy workplaces
- Addressing inequalities in access to prevention
- Supporting behaviour change and self-management
- Tackling wider determinants such as poverty, housing and social isolation.
Through this work, ARMA aims to ensure MSK prevention becomes a core part of improving population health, increasing healthy life expectancy and supporting a more productive and independent society.
Key resources
Key ARMA resources on prevention and MSK health include:
- ARMA Policy Position Paper on Prevention and MSK Health. (pdf download tile)
- A Decade of Better MSK Health. (pdf download tile)
- ARMA consultation responses and policy briefings.
These resources set out the case for prevention and highlight practical opportunities to improve MSK health through earlier action.
Related insights
Our latest insights on prevention and MSK health include:
- Blogs on physical activity, behaviour change and supported self-management.
- News and events relating to MSK prevention.
- Examples of emerging practice across the MSK community.
These insights highlight how prevention can improve outcomes and where further progress is needed.