Realising the ambition of the Defence Medical Services research strategy

Abstract

Figure 1 Schematic summarising the priority research themes, underlying capability requirements and requirement to capture and communicate impact inherent to SDP 21. SDP 21,

How ‘STRONG’ is the British Army?

“…Three organisations responsible for optimising the physical health and operational readiness of the British Army include the Royal Army Physical Training Corps (RAPTC), Army Health and Performance Research (AHPR) and UK Defence Rehabilitation (with research capability and clinical support driven by the Academic Department of Military Rehabilitation (ADMR)). Among their combined challenges include: (1) The reduction of MSKI, (2) Maximising soldier preparedness to meet the operational demands of combat through the delivery of specific physical training, and (3) Design and management of exercise programmes to optimally accelerate Army personnel becoming fully deployable following MSKI.…”

“…One of six research themes outlined in the 2021 Strategic Delivery Plan for UK Defence Medical Services (DMS) Research 2021–2026 is ‘ preventing and treating musculoskeletal injury (MSKI )’. 1 The research priorities identified include: ‘injury prevention and prehabilitation’, ‘lower-limb injury’, ‘shortened time to return-to-service’ and ‘physical comorbidity’. The strategic development plan also identified a need for research investigating ‘factors affecting deployment suitability and how they can be assessed and mitigated’.…”