World Spine Care: an example of innovations to improve access to musculoskeletal care
World Spine Care was recently featured in an article describing Innovations to improve access to musculoskeletal care. This peer-reviewed article sought to “examine innovation, its management and the strategic directions required to improve musculoskeletal healthcare” by presenting snapshots of real-world examples in policy, service delivery, and clinical practice.
World Spine Care’s clinic in Botswana was included in an article outlining Innovations to improve access to musculoskeletal care, part of a special issue on the future of bone and joint health in the journal Best Practice & Research Clinical Rheumatology.
According to the paper, the WHO has provided a framework for evaluating ‘practice examples’ that emulate the elements of Integrated, People-centered Health services (IPCHS). The WHO identifies practice examples as “leading, promising, emerging or ‘brilliant failures’ with the intention to share learned experiences and new models of different approaches in efforts towards [IPCHS].” The authors outlined World Spine Care’s “successful attempt to develop a spine care program in Botswana where there was a significant burden of disease and minimal healthcare services available to treat individuals suffering from spine pain.”
Other examples in the paper included a multi-pronged policy effort by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care in Ontario, Canada to tackle the burden of low back pain, and the interprofessional collaboration in education and practice at St. Michael’s Hospital, affiliated with the University of Toronto.
The article was part of a special issue on the future of bone and joint health in the journal Best Practice & Research Clinical Rheumatology (2020). Other articles in the issue provide perspectives on the need for addressing musculoskeletal health, the challenges in tackling the global burden of disability caused by musculoskeletal health conditions, and includes discussions on various aspects of healthcare from bedside to the workplace.
Deborah Kopansky-Giles, an author on the paper, also serves as a member of the World Spine Care Canada board of directors and a member of the Executive Committee of the Global Alliance for Musculoskeletal Health.
References
Chehade, M. J., Yadav, L., Kopansky-Giles, D., Merolli, M., Palmer, E., Jayatilaka, A., & Slater, H. (2020). Innovations to improve access to musculoskeletal care. Best Practice & Research. Clinical Rheumatology, 101559. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.berh.2020.101559
