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Principal Investigator:  Dr. Roberta L. Woodgate
Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research 

Study summary: 

Chronic pain is a common public health problem in young people. Many (one in five)  Canadian youth experience chronic pain, and suffer poor physical, academic, social, and  developmental effects, and increased mental health challenges. Despite this, current  services and supports for young people with chronic pain mostly use a “one-size-fits all”  method that mainly focus on the physical aspects of pain relief. Youth themselves have  shared that their experiences with chronic pain are not understood from a whole person  point of view and that their stories of living with chronic pain are not being heard. The  COVID-19 pandemic has had wider impacts on health services for youth with chronic pain  and these wider impacts on the health system and patients are poorly understood. This lack  of understanding results in health services that do not meet the needs of these young  people. The goal of this national study is to expand patient-centered care for young people  with chronic pain, which means providing care that is respectful of, and responds to  individual patient choices and needs. This study involves partnerships from across Canada,  including Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP) and Children’s Healthcare Canada. Canadian  youth experiencing chronic pain and key stakeholders (e.g., parents, clinicians, counselors)  will be invited to take part in the study. Multiple data collection methods (e.g., individual and  focus group interviews, arts-based methods) will be used, guided by principles of equity,  collaboration and partnership. This study will help to shift our understanding of YCP as it  creates space for youth-voice to advocate for their priorities in relation to care and how best  to approach key stakeholders with their needs, with the ultimate aim to advance patient centred care for young people with chronic pain. 

Research questions: 

The purpose of this 4-year qualitative, arts-based, patient oriented national study is to  advance patient-centred care for young people with chronic pain.  

The aims are to:  

    1. Detail the experiences of young people with chronic pain including their needs,  priorities for care, and preferred outcomes.  
    2. Co-design arts-based knowledge translation (KT) products to advance key  stakeholders’ understanding of the experiences of young people with chronic pain.  3. Evaluate the KT products and engage key stakeholders in recommendations on the  use of arts-based KT products to advance patient-centered care (PCC) for young  people with chronic pain.v

Interested?

Contact :  ingauge@umanitoba.ca
Phone: (204)-481-4994