Using system-aware and people-centred design methods to help people recover better from musculoskeletal issues

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During our lives, we are all likely to be affected by problems with our joints, bones, muscles and tissues -together known as Musculoskeletal issues (MSK). In the UK, approximately 15 million of us have some kind of MSK issue each year. These aches and pains can cause us a huge amount of pain and discomfort and make it difficult for us to really enjoy the activities that make us happy and can even stop us from working.If you've had any MSK issues, you may also have found that it is quite difficult to get timely help. Appointments with physiotherapists can take weeks in the public and private sectors. After receiving specialist advice it can be another challenge to keep doing exercises day after day, especially when there is pain and when it is hard to see progress.At Tortoise, all our team members have had similar experiences. We've been frustrated and have felt alone with an injury that is not recovering in the way we would like. Our founder, Anna, had so many injuries playing elite sport that she developed a series of strategies to cope when injured. She gathered a team of designers, behavioural scientists, a sports therapist and business specialists to work together to develop a scalable digital product to help us all recover well.We've been developing Tortoise since 2022 to help anyone suffering with MSK pain recover well. Tortoise blends physical rehabilitation goals with support for the emotional aspects of pain and injury. This project will allow us to build on the foundational research we have already conducted and work closely with people with MSK issues to develop and test an initial version of the Tortoise app with the ultimate goal of helping people like you recover well.