Pain management in people with optimally treated rheumatic disease and with long-term pain problems

Background

In Västmanland Region, thorough work is underway to improve the care of patients with optimally treated rheumatic disease and long-term pain. Participation in this "pain management" means that patients are offered education with a special focus on pain management. The intervention is aimed at patients with an optimally treated rheumatic disease, and who live with a long-term pain that is experienced to negatively affect their quality of life. The intervention includes teaching held by the pain team in relation to self-care and physical activity. The teaching is a combination of information and discussion where the participants can be active in groups.

Patients can also participate in individually tailored physical exercise. The intervention lasts for 4 weeks and is performed by people in the pain rehabilitation team. Follow-up takes place after 3 and 6 months by the pain team. The aim is to obtain an in-depth understanding of pain management for people with optimally treated rheumatic disease and with long-term pain problems. The project is a qualitative evaluation of working methods used clinically for this group of patients.

Relevance: As a self-rated high level of pain has been shown to be associated with increased fear of avoiding physical activity, and that maintaining physical activity has been shown to partially alleviate pain and discomfort, it is important to obtain an in-depth understanding and qualitatively evaluate pain management.

The results may be included in further health prevention work for this unexplored sample group. Method: Focus group interviews (n = 4) take place as an informal discussion. As pain management has consisted of group meetings, this method can be suitable as the group can be assumed to carry on a collective experience of value. Processed with qualitative content analysis.

Project objectives

Health and welfare for people in vulnerable life situations. The project contains aspects regarding patients' needs, experiences of and opportunities for treatment, care and nursing adapted to them. The knowledge that is developed lies within a research area where care and welfare initiatives coincide and where care science and physiotherapeutic perspectives enrich each other. The research focuses on how conditions and working methods can be created to improve efforts and results for these patients.