An evaluation of support groups for patients with long-term chronic pain and complex psychosocial difficulties

There is a significant group of chronic pain patients with complex psychosocial needs who are frequent users of hospital outpatient departments and who do not participate in or benefit from traditional pain management treatments and are convinced there is a medical solution to their problems. They are a particularly challenging group of patients to help, often shunned by medical and psychological professionals. A new type of ten-session psycho-social group for these patients that is less demanding than traditional pain management group programmes is investigated. It is designed to foster the development into community-based self-help groups and reduce the need for professional support and unnecessary medical intervention. Accounts of four groups of patients who participated in support groups and successfully established their own groups is presented. To assess changes in motivation, mood and pain disability standardized questionnaire measures were given before and after group attendance. Findings suggest that patients benefited and took increased responsibility for their pain management but did not demonstrate positive changes on measures of mood or level of pain disability. Patients experienced satisfaction with the groups and established their own self-help community groups. The positive experience of participants and staff suggests further work with support groups would be productive for this group of patients.