The problem
Muscle and joint conditions such as arthritis, chronic back pain and osteoporosis impact 20 million people in the UK. For many people, exercise is recommended as a first line treatment. Exercises can improve pain and strength, and help people continue with work and everyday activities. Unfortunately, research shows that exercise adherence, or the extent to which people carry out exercises and stay active, is a key barrier to experiencing benefits.
We recently finished a trial that showed combining physiotherapy exercise treatment with a personalised programme of techniques to help exercise adherence resulted in better outcomes compared to regular physiotherapy. However, this trial was small and took place in hospital outpatient physio departments with people who had osteoporosis and back pain.
What we aim to do
We want to find out if our exercise adherence treatment could benefit people with a wider range of muscle and joint conditions who are given exercises by a physiotherapist.
We want help to refine and improve our exercise adherence treatment to make it suitable for people with a range of muscle and joint conditions who might have physiotherapy in settings such as a GP surgery or community health centre.
Who are we looking for?
We would like the help of people who are living with a common muscle or joint condition. For example, conditions like osteoarthritis, hip or knee joint pain, back pain, osteoporosis. We are keen to involve men and women at least 40 years of age or older as the risk of having these conditions increases from mid-life.
Experience of being a patient with muscle or joint problem is needed. We are interested hearing from people who have a muscle or joint condition that affects one part, or many parts of their body, as well as those who have other long-term conditions alongside muscle or joint problems. It would be useful if PPI contributors also have experience of physiotherapy, or of trying to follow advice to do exercises regularly to help manage their condition.
Black and minority ethnic communities are more at risk of many common muscle or joint conditions, yet are under-represented in research into effective treatments. To improve and refine our exercise adherence treatment we would like help to make our treatment as widely accessible as possible.
What is the time commitment?
We are asking contributors to take part in at least three online meetings. Each meeting will be from 60 minutes to a maximum of 90 minutes long and be held online over Microsoft Teams.
We are also asking contributors to do some minor preparation for each meeting. This would involve reading the meeting agenda and could involve briefly familiarising themselves with materials that might be talked about in the meeting. For example, watching a 5-minute video, or looking through a patient education leaflet. The preparation would take less than 30 minutes.
How can I apply?
Please contact Dr Meredith Newman: [email protected]
or Dr Philippa Nicholson: [email protected]
The deadline for applications is 15 November 2026.
Reimbursement
We can offer a payment of £55 per meeting, inclusive of preparation time.
To thank people who participate in three sessions we will also offer a £40 gift voucher.
Organisation
Physiotherapy Research Unit, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust
Contact
Contact via email is preferred:
Dr Meredith Newman: [email protected]
Dr Philippa Nicholson: [email protected]
Telephone for the Physiotherapy Research Unit: 01865 737526