Support group for persons suffering from chronic pain
The ‘Pain, a Part of My Life’ group activities are born out of real everyday needs, and the activities are currently being developed within the ‘Paljon palveluja tarvitsevat asiakkaat’ (Frequent Attenders) project and the preparations of the West Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County.
About 5–7% of the population of Finland suffers from chronic pain, which equals one in five working-age persons. Chronic pain largely affects an individual’s ability to manage everyday life – the pain may cause depression, anxiety and various other everyday problems. The ‘Pain, a Part of My Life’ group activities are born out of real everyday needs, and the activities are currently being developed within the ‘Paljon palveluja tarvitsevat asiakkaat’ (Frequent Attenders) project and the preparations of the West Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County.
The group activities related to pain have been ongoing in Espoo since 2019, and the participants selected for the group are patients of basic healthcare services with multiple conditions who suffer from chronic pain. “The purpose of the group activities is not to find out the cause of the pain, but to seek coping methods to manage the pain, help the participants tell the difference between chronic and acute pain, and identify the potential factors behind chronic pain. There may be quite a few factors that you can personally influence,” says Sarita Aho, physiotherapist in charge who participated in developing the activities.
The aim of the group activities is to increase information and understanding of the factors related to chronic pain, reinforce the customers’ own coping methods, and seek individual opportunities for non-pharmacological pain management. The group will discuss the various factors that affect pain and attempt to alleviate fear associated with pain, while also offering the opportunity for peer support.
Treatment path for pain
The pain-related group activities are one of the paths for the treatment of pain, and they are suitable for customers who have suffered from pain for over three months, who are willing to deal with topics related to pain in the group and who are committed to the group activities. Any experiments with physiotherapy and/or occupational therapy should ideally be finished before participating in the group.
Customers may be referred to the group activities by a doctor, psychologist, physiotherapist, nurse or occupational therapist. Before the group activities start, each customer meets with a psychologist. At the meeting, the suitability and timeliness of the group activities will be discussed with the customer.
The group participants will define their own goals and work on their personal pain management plan throughout the group’s period of activity. The aim is to find things that matter to the patient with pain and that they want to be able to do despite the pain.
The group will also discuss emotions, beliefs and concepts related to pain, pain mechanisms, sleep and relaxation methods and things that affect mobility and everyday activities in general. The advantages of group activities compared to individual treatment are the understanding of the experience with pain, alleviating the experience of loneliness, and the empowering and supporting nature of the group.
The medical history of persons suffering from chronic pain may vary greatly: pain can be caused by many illnesses, such as trouble with the musculoskeletal system, neurological conditions or nerve damage after surgery. “The customers may feel like they are alone, and through the group activities, they gain an understanding of there being others like them and experts to help and support them,” Aho explains.
Goal-oriented activities for the good of customers
The impact of the pain-related group activities is being assessed through various methods. One of the perspectives is that of healthcare resources, as patients with chronic pain use health centres’ services extensively. The group activities free up the health centres’ resources, since group-based rehabilitation is relatively effective: the health centre visits of the first group participants in Espoo were reduced significantly after they joined the group.
Since it is known that chronic pain lowers the quality of life significantly, the impact of the group has also been monitored using the WHOQOL quality of life indicator, which studies individuals’ physical health, psychological state, level of independence, social relationships, and their relationships to salient features of their environment. Six months after the group ended, the results were better in terms of the physical, psychological and social qualities. “The group activity model is very impactful, and we would like to help customers suffering from chronic pain in West Uusimaa even more extensively,” says Satu Meriläinen-Porras, project manager of the Frequent Attenders project.
The municipalities of West Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County are interested in developing the group activities even further: Kirkkonummi and Lohja, among others, have expressed interest. Moving forward, the concept could be scaled up to be used by several municipalities, once the wellbeing services county has been established. “It is important that there are activities available for customers with chronic pain, and perhaps the county could develop the activities in a multi-professional manner,” Aho states.
As remote connections and digital skills have grown stronger, information sharing and the development of cooperation have changed their form and cross-municipal groups will be better available in the future.
Read more about treating and managing pain: Terveyskylä kivunhallintatalo https://www.terveyskyla.fi/kivunhallintatalo(external link)