Developing consensus among people living with pain on what health professionals should know about their lived experiences.

Abstract

To address suboptimal pain competency in undergraduate health professional education programs, several organizations are now including people with chronic pain in courses to teach students about the experience of living with pain. This study aimed to achieve consensus among people living with pain regarding what health professions students should learn about the experience of pain. A participatory three-round Delphi process was used, where 27 people living with pain voted on sub-themes about the experience of pain. Sub-themes achieving at least 75% agreement were approved, while others were revised and presented again in subsequent rounds. Inductive content analysis of the approved sub-themes was conducted, and participants endorsed the final product. A total of 39 sub-themes were approved, grouped into seven higher-order themes, including: the personal impacts of pain; harmful effects of stigma; adapting to living with pain; managing pain; connections between pain and mental health; challenges in pain assessment and diagnosis; and expectations from healthcare. The consensus themes are considered relevant across various health professions and can serve as a valuable aid for pain educators to assess their teaching and guide the involvement of people living with pain in educational activities.