Pain Retrained: Participant Perspectives of an Online, Interdisciplinary Chronic Pain Education Programme

TL;DR

This study explores how people experience an online chronic pain education program, finding that it helps shift their understanding and engagement with evidence-based care.

Contribution

The study identifies reorientation to evidence-based treatments as a core process in pain education.

Findings

Participants shifted from a biomedical to a biopsychosocial understanding of chronic pain.

The online format improved accessibility and allowed for longer interventions.

Relational and temporal processes supported reconceptualization and engagement with care.

Abstract

Education is considered a foundational component of chronic pain treatment. In response to challenges relating to accessibility and scalability, health services have increasingly adopted online formats for delivering pain education programmes. However, little is known about how patients experience these digital interventions, particularly in relation to engagement, meaning‐making, and perceived impact. This study aimed to explore participant experiences of completing an online education programme for chronic pain.

The study adopted an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) methodological framework, which informed the development of the interview schedule, the sampling strategy, and the analytic process. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 10 adults who completed a 6‐week programme, Pain Retrained, which delivered education on chronic pain in a group setting via Microsoft Teams. The intervention was provided by an interdisciplinary team with 2 h of clinician contact per week.

Analyses identified two principal themes, “It was a stretch” and “And now I can move on”. Participants expanded their understanding of chronic pain from a biomedical model to a more integrated biopsychosocial perspective, which supported a constructive shift toward engaging with evidence‐based care and self‐management.

This study offers novel insights into participants' experiences of an online pain education programme. The online format enhanced accessibility and made a longer‐duration intervention more feasible for individuals. This structure allowed relational and temporal processes to support reconceptualization and importantly, reorientation to evidence‐based care. Findings highlight the value of participatory, interdisciplinary education delivered in a format that accommodates the realities of living with chronic pain.

This research advances understanding of how education can lay the foundation for recovery in chronic pain. A pivotal contribution is the identification of reorientation to evidence‐based treatments as a core process within pain education. These findings extend current models of pain education by highlighting experiential elements critical to change. The insights offer actionable direction for clinicians and service leadership seeking to develop, implement or refine accessible pain education interventions.