AS Information Day

Hi everybody! If you are looking at this for the first time today, then welcome.

It was great to talk to some of you at the BIRD AS Information Day – thank you so much for coming. I have attached some photo highlights below. We have already been discussing some great ideas for future research, in addition to ideas for the blog, which is fantastic – thank you for all your input. As discussed in my presentation, you can also find all the outlined initial Project Nightingale results in the previous blog posts. More updates to be published soon!

If you have any queries about anything, ideas or if you want to get involved with the blog, please feel free to contact me at rosie.barnett1@nhs.net. We are so excited about the development of Project Nightingale, and to start this online Project Nightingale community.

Again, thank you for coming today and for showing an interest in this project. And thank you also to all the other speakers for the fascinating talks! Finally, a special thank you to BIRD for organising this event – it was a pleasure to be a part of it.

Dr Raj Sengupta kicking off the days talks to a packed room – covering a wealth of topics regarding axial spondyloarthritis care, research and medications.

Fascinating and engaging talk from Professor Julian Marchesi, Professor of Human Microbiome Research at Cardiff University and Professor of Digestive Health at Imperial College London, who provided updates on the gut microbiome – an exploding field of research!

Specialist Physiotherapist Emily Clarke of the AS team at the RNHRD, talking through the importance of exercise in AS and practical ways to incorporate more exercise into a weekly routine.

Sally Dickinson providing a wealth of updates about the amazing work of the National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society (soon to be National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society!). This included exciting news of soon to be released video tutorials of people with AS demonstrating beneficial stretches and exercises and how to easily incorporate these into daily life.

BANES talking therapies services explaining how to access Psychological Therapy and the many ways that the team may be able to help you if you are struggling.

Insightful talk from Andrea Hirons, Clinical Psychologist at the RNHRD – which even included an introduction to mindfulness and a brief mindfulness exercise. Andrea runs one of the sessions on the Bath 2-week AS rehabilitation course.

Myself, Rosie Barnett, Research Assistant from the University of Bath, highlighting research from Project Nightingale and discussing the potential for integrating self-tracking data into healthcare and research.