Local Pain Collectives: A Novel Strategy for Improving Pain Knowledge, Pain Care and Community Connectedness in Rural Settings.
Ashley R Grant, Tanushka Alva, Mouli Baralaman and 20 others
PMID 42017677WHAT IT FOUND
Rural health professionals said a two-year pain program improved their pain knowledge, confidence, patient interactions, and belonging.
They also reported building local referral networks and running community pain education events.
Key findings
01Facilitators reported growth in contemporary pain science knowledge, confidence communicating with patients and other health professionals, and improved patient interactions.
02Facilitators reported perceived improvements in their Collective members' pain understanding, access to resources, patient interactions, and new referral networks.
03Facilitators reported increased community awareness of contemporary pain science and local pain care options, including consumers seeking care, referrals, and informed questions about managing pain without medication.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The report is based on a workshop that focused only on positive impacts and did not explore challenges or things that did not work. Because the data are self-reported notes and group discussion, the authors cannot be certain whether reported changes in behaviour, such as networking and referral patterns, actually occurred. No quantitative analysis of connection was done, such as referral numbers, validated questionnaires, or well-being markers. Demographic data are reported for 22 attendees who accepted the authorship invitation, while six attendees rejected it. Pain Revolution staff led the workshop and several authors are associated with Pain Revolution.
Declared interests
The organisation whose program is described, Pain Revolution, led the workshop and several authors are associated with it: GLM is founder and unpaid CEO, and AN, TA, and DW are paid by Pain Revolution. Funding included the National Health and Medical Research Council, Rural Doctors Workforce Agency, Medical Research Future Fund, Tasmanian Public Health Network, and Tasmanian Department of Health.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the reported improvements as proof the Collective program works. It is a self-reported meeting report from a workshop that focused only on positive impacts, and the authors say they cannot be certain whether reported behaviour changes actually occurred.