NHS Evidence Update: Pain, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Support in Later Life

Pain
From the NHS Evidence - Palliative Care Specialist Collection


The 2010 Annual Evidence Update (AEU) on pain in supportive and palliative care is the fourth in our series. Previous AEUs have covered general aspects of pain management in cancer and chronic diseases as well as special situations like pain in dementia and specific treatments such as cannabinoids. This year we are revisiting general pain management in both cancer and non-cancer chronic disease patients to allow clinicians and researchers to keep up to date on the rapid changes in this area.

Rheumatoid Arthritis
from the NHS Evidence - Muskuloskeletal Specialist Collection
Having searched the literature for high quality evidence that has accumulated within the last year, NHS Evidence - Musculoskeletal have focused on guidance and systematic reviews published before March 2010. As in recent years the majority of publications relate to various aspects of drug treatments. Although this constitutes a proportion of the clinical activity in relation to this disease, other important developments and various aspects of rheumatoid disease management also feature prominently in our update. This Annual Evidence Update should be of particular interest to all health professionals working in this field.

Supporting people in later life
from the NHS Evidence Later Life Specialist Collection

The purpose of this Annual Evidence Update is to highlight important secondary research, guidelines and policy documents which will help health professionals to support older people who are experiencing challenges with independent living due to serious health problems. Our focus is on material that falls outside the scope of subject-specific Annual Evidence Updates, such as mental health or cardiovascular disease. This means grappling with challenging search topics such as frailty, long-term conditions and complex morbidities as well as the different settings in which support can be provided for these patients.