In 2019, the Australian Government released the National Strategic Action Plan for Arthritis (here), with the aim of improving care for the millions of Australians who live with arthritis.

One of the priority recommendations that received funding was workforce-capacity building. 

A competitive tender was awarded to develop Arthritis Training, Learning and Up-Skilling for Health Professionals (ATLAS), an online program designed to build knowledge and skills among health professionals and trainees in best practice arthritis care. 

A consortium of arthritis experts, clinicians, researchers and people with lived experience of arthritis collaborated to create ATLAS.

The consortium included physiotherapists from The University of Sydney, The University of Melbourne, Curtin University and Arthritis and Osteoporosis WA.

Professor Rana Hinman APAM and Professor Andrew Briggs FACP (Fellow by Original Contribution) are two such consortium members. 

Rana is a research physiotherapist and National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Leadership Fellow at the Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine at the University of Melbourne, while Andrew is a research and clinical physiotherapist and professor of musculoskeletal health at Curtin University. 

‘One of the priorities of the National Strategic Action Plan for Arthritis is to improve delivery of high-value, person-centred care and support for people with arthritis. 

To achieve this goal, a key action was to develop training to upskill health professionals in evidence-based management and care for people with arthritis,’ says Rana. 

‘We know from ample research, including studies that Andrew and I have led, that many clinicians don’t feel very confident about their knowledge and skills in managing people with arthritis.

'In fact, we know that physios only receive a small amount of training at university about arthritis because the curriculum is so jam packed.

‘The federal government was really keen to lift the skill level in arthritis care generally,’ says Rana. 

‘The ATLAS e-learning program focuses on both osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) care. 

'There is a pathway that we’ve curated called Arthritis Essentials, which focuses on fundamental, basic knowledge that any health provider or trainee should have if they’re looking after someone with arthritis, including how to talk about arthritis, design a care package or assess someone. 

'In this way, ATLAS is flexible and allows the learner to build their own personalised learning pathway.

‘ATLAS gives a macro view to OA, but one of the realities is that knee and hip OA are some of the most common patterns of OA. 

'That is where the bulk of research exists,’ Rana continues.

‘Inevitably, there’s more of a focus in the OA module on knee and hip OA, but many of the principles are relevant to OA at other joints.’ 

While OA is the most common form of arthritis, ATLAS also includes educational content on RA care, the most common form of inflammatory arthritis. 

‘As a complex and systemic autoimmune condition, care for RA requires an understanding about how to recognise signs and symptoms of systemic disease early and how to respond to changing disease activity, in order to improve outcomes’, explains Andrew. 

‘ATLAS steps learners through these principles regarding responsive, safe and effective care for people with RA, or suspected RA. 

‘Most clinicians receive very little education on RA, and relative to population burden, that is understandable,’ says Andrew.

‘However, time to clinical assessment and initiation of therapy is a key determinant of mortality, morbidity, dysfunction and deformity among people with suspected or confirmed RA, so upskilling clinicians in timely recognition and referral pathways is essential.'

The multidisciplinary Australian consortium that created ATLAS was supported by expert content creators from across the globe, including people with lived experience to ensure the content was person centred. 

‘A number of Australian physios with strong research backgrounds who are experts in this space have been involved in the development of the ATLAS program from the get-go, including in the project steering team and as contributors to the actual content,’ says Andrew. 

‘So the platform is credible and evidence-based, citing the latest research from a range of different experts in their fields.’ 

While physiotherapists are often one of the key groups of clinicians providing arthritis care, the platform is designed for a transdisciplinary audience. 

‘ATLAS is suitable for any health professionals who need to support people with arthritis, including clinician trainees,’ says Rana.

ATLAS is comprised of modules focusing on different aspects of arthritis care, such as: 

• history taking and physical assessment of OA, management planning, physical activity and exercise, weight management, surgical interventions, pharmacotherapy and dietary supplements 

• self-management of RA, physical activity, epidemiology, diagnosis and clinical investigation, recognising comorbidities, rehabilitation, surgical intervention and pregnancy 

• a comprehensive pathway combining education on both OA and RA 

• a streamlined efficient pathway only focusing on arthritis essentials. 

‘We hope users benefit from the platform’s accessibility, particularly for people who are not practising in urban settings,’ says Andrew. 

‘The modules cover the disease continuum right from appropriate assessment to care planning, allowing users to drill down according to their scope of practice. 

‘For example, if you’re a prescriber, you might be really interested in delving into the pharmacokinetics of different therapeutic options for arthritis. 

'Whereas if you’re an exercise provider you may look at exercise dose and parameters or weight loss.’ 

Notably, the ATLAS program is currently free. 

‘I feel this is one of ATLAS’s strongest selling points, in that clinicians can study online and at their own pace. 

'We know that professional development can cost a lot of money,’ says Rana. 

The end result of undertaking the ATLAS program will depend on the goals of individual clinicians. 

‘All the components of care are there at the level of depth that you want for your scope of practice or your interest,’ says Andrew.

 ‘In that respect, it‘s intended to be transdisciplinary, but a physiotherapist would be very capable of going through all the modules if they want to. 

'Then they can receive certification for doing a customised learning pathway in osteoarthritis care, for example. 

'Or, depending on their learning needs, they could pick and mix what modules they might like to do; there’s flexibility to do it either way.’ 

Register for the ATLAS program here.