Current practices of health care providers in recommending online resources for chronic pain self-management
Open accessAbstract
Purpose: Online health resources (websites, apps and social media) may be an adjunct to provide self-management support for people with persistent or chronic pain. Endorsement of online health resources by health care providers is crucial for uptake by end-users. The aim of this study was to investigate the current practices of New Zealand (NZ) health care providers in recommending online resources for persistent pain management, and to identify what factors predict health care providers’ recommendations and to explore the common concerns. Methods: An online survey of NZ health care providers (ie, chiropractors, general practitioners, nurses, occupational therapists, osteopaths, physiotherapists, psychologists, specialist consultants, and social workers) involved in the management of persistent pain was conducted. The recruitment strategy was tailored to each occupation via occupation-specific professional organizations, and by approaching multidisciplinary professional organizations. Results: Data from 213 health care providers were used in the final analysis. Most of the health care providers were physiotherapists (n=71), followed by chiropractors (n=39) and general practitioners (n=31). Fifty three percent (111/210) of health care providers reported currently recommending online resources. A multivariate logistic regression model showed that specialist interest in treating pain (OR=3.84; 95% CI: 1.66, 8.87; P =0.002), and level of confidence in recommending online resources (OR=1.05; CI: 1.04, 1.07; P <0.001), positively influenced recommending online resources. The majority of the health care providers (65%, 138/213) were concerned about the safety issues related to the risk of patients misinterpreting online information and to the lack of evidence-based information. Conclusion: Half of the health care providers surveyed reported recommending online resources, which may suggest limited confidence in recommending, or knowledge of, existing online resources for persistent pain management. Ongoing education for health care providers on evidence-based online resources is required to recommend online resources as a self-management support tool for people with persistent pain. Keywords: chronic pain, clinical practice, eHealth, mHealth, mixed methods, survey
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App-delivered mindfulness is one of the resources most frequently recommended by health care providers for the self-management of chronic pain.
“Moreover, app-delivered mindfulness is one of the resources most frequently recommended by health care providers for the self-management of chronic pain.11”
From Randomized, wait-list–controlled pilot study of app-delivered mindfulness for patients reporting chronic pain (2021) · cites this paper as [11]
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- Authors
- Devan, H., Godfrey, H., Perry, M., Hempel, D., Saipe, B., Hale, L., & Grainger, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Otago (NZ)
- Victoria University of Wellington (NZ)
- Capital and Coast District Health Board (NZ)
- Corresponding author
- Devan, Hemakumar
- Venue
- Journal of Pain Research
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2019-08
- Volume
- Volume 12
- Pages
- 2457-2472
- ISSN
- 1178-7090 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6698079
- OpenAlex
- W2967162467
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 4
- FWCI
- 5.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Pain Research (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Dove Medical Press (Taylor and Francis Group) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Keywords
- chronic pain, self-management, online health resources, provider recommendation, e-health, mobile health, provider confidence, evidence-based information, patient safety concerns, health professions education, New Zealand
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