Investigating Interactive Body Illusions for Pain Science Education v1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluating the feasibility of implementing an educational pain science and body illusion workshop in adult pain management programmes: a mixed-methods, feasibility study.
IRAS ID
344176
Contact name
Roger Newport
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Loughborough University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 1 months, 17 days
Research summary
Pain and pain-related diseases are the leading cause of disability worldwide, so finding the best treatment and management approaches is crucial. Pain management programmes (PMPs) are an effective way to engage people living with persistent pain and help them understand, manage, and reduce their pain. Scientists have identified that some beliefs about pain and the body are linked with worse long-term outcomes for people with pain – and that shifting beliefs towards a more up-to-date understanding of pain is beneficial. This is an important feature of PMPs. Visual illusions are sometimes used as part of this process, as they can be thought-provoking. We would like to go a step further and use first-person experiences (body illusions) that change how the participant’s own body feels, along with pain science information, to make these ideas more understandable, memorable, and real. Our workshop, called ‘Reframing Pain in the Brain’, uses safe, interactive demonstrations to offer engaging evidence to support ideas discussed in the PMP. For our research, we would like to test whether this workshop is a valuable addition to a PMP and if it is possible to use it within the NHS. Patients may benefit by having new ways to understand their pain, better outcomes from the PMP, and simple ways to share this new information with friends and family.
Patients taking part in Royal Hallamshire Hospital’s PMP will be invited to an additional session. They will be asked to fill in questionnaires and watch or participate in the workshop. They will be invited to a follow-up online interview, within two weeks of the workshop, to share more about their views on the workshop.
The School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University provides financial support for research involving Doctoral Researchers. Funding will include PPIE payments in line with NIHR guidelines.
REC name
North West - Haydock Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/NW/0391
Date of REC Opinion
6 Jan 2025
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion