SPRING  

Focus: To co-design prehabilitation and early rehabilitation interventions for people undergoing total shoulder replacement and test the clinical and cost-effectiveness of these interventions, in comparison to usual care, in improving function and reducing pain.

Timeline: 2025 – 2028

Funder: HTA NIHR (£2,518,102)

Collaborators: Led by Cardiff University, with City St George’s University of London as co-applicant and Bridges as a collaborator

Research shows that the outcome for people after shoulder surgery is not as good as other joint replacements, and this research will evaluate how best to support people in the run up to their surgery (prehabilitation) and how to support people to mobilise and manage their arm after surgery (early post-operative mobilisation).

SPRING is led by Cardiff University, with City St George’s University of London as a co-applicant and Bridges as a collaborator. Together with City St George’s, we will lead on the co-design of new handbooks and interventions for people experiencing shoulder replacement surgery. Bridges is delivering all the training and support to staff working across the different centres, to ensure they have the confidence and skills to be able to deliver this intervention effectively to participants in the trial. The new ‘SPRING’ approach to prehabilitation and early mobilisation will be compared to usual care, and the project aims to recruit up to 390 people due for shoulder replacement surgery across 24 NHS sites in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.