Evaluation einer Intervention zur partizipativen Vereinbarung von Rehabilitationszielen bei Patienten mit chronischen Rückenschmerzen

Dealing with Chronic Pain: Tips to Teach Undergraduate Health Sciences Students

Chronic pain is a significant and costly problem all over the world that negatively impacts the quality of life of sufferers. There are clear discrepancies between the prevalence of chronic pain in society and the low priority assigned to educating future physicians about the complexities of pain. This condition also occurs in other undergraduate health science students, although research in this area has not been studied as much as in medical schools. Based on the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) Pain Curriculum Outline, a systematic search of the available literature, and the authors' own experiences, we highlight some relevant tips to educate health science trainees in the management of patients with chronic pain. These tips highlight current international recommendations for a comprehensive approach to this prevalent problem in society, which should be learnt during the university training of health professionals.

Patients' experiences of the BetterBack model of care for low back pain in primary care - a qualitative interview study

Purpose: The aim of this study was to describe patient experiences of received primary care for low back pain (LBP) according to the BetterBack Model of Care (MoC) with a focus on illness beliefs and self-management enablement.

Methods: Individual interviews were conducted with 15 adults 4–14 months after receiving treatment according to the BetterBack MoC for LBP in primary care in Sweden. Data were analysed using content analysis.

Results: When analysing the data, the following theme emerged; “Participant understanding of their treatment for low back pain and self-management strategies—a matter of support systems”, comprising the following categories: “Knowledge translation”, “Interaction and dialogue”, “The health care professional support” and “Form organization”. Participants experienced that they had better knowledge about their LBP and received tools to better manage their health condition. The participants expressed good communication with the treating physiotherapist and provided suggestions to further improve the treatment of LBP.

Conclusions: Participants experienced that they had gained new knowledge about their health problems and after the treatment they had the tools to handle their back problems. This suggests that the BetterBack MoC may be used as a basis for a support system to provide valuable tools for self-management for patients with low back pain.

A multicentre cluster-randomized controlled study to evaluate a train-the-trainer programme for implementing internal and external participation in medical rehabilitation

OBJECTIVE

Evaluation of the effect of the train-the-trainer programme 'Fit for Shared Decision-Making' on internal (team) and external (patient) participation in medical rehabilitation from a patient and staff perspective.

DESIGN

A multicentre, cluster-randomized controlled study.

SETTING

Eleven medical rehabilitation clinics, divided into intervention and control groups.

SUBJECTS

A staff and a patient survey were conducted pre- and post-intervention, plus a further patient survey six months later.

INTERVENTION

Train-the-trainer programme 'Fit for Shared Decision-Making' for interprofessional settings.

MAIN MEASURES

Each survey measured internal participation with a self-compiled six-item scale (Internal Participation Scale, IPS), and external participation by means of a nine-item Shared Decision-Making Questionnaire (SDM-Q-9) for the patients and for healthcare professionals.

RESULTS

Patient samples numbered 402 for the pre-, 463 for the post-intervention data collection period and 461 six months after the intervention. Patients' appraisal of external participation (Fperiod x group (2) = 0.256, p=0.774, η(2)=0.000) showed no change, whereas internal participation (Fperiod x group (2) = 3.785, p=0.023, η(2)=0.007) showed a significant increase. A total of 195 healthcare professionals participated in the pre- and 168 in the post-intervention staff survey. Here external participation was significantly enhanced in the intervention group (F(period x group) (1) = 4.893, p=0.028, η(2)=0.014).

CONCLUSIONS

The train-the-trainer approach can be recommended for implementing internal and external participation in interprofessional settings such as medical rehabilitation clinics. However, there is a need for more intensive staff training for internal participation and an additional intervention for patients to achieve success in all aspects.