Grant: Catalyst Grant: Patient-Oriented Research

The impact of chronic pain on Canadians is well known. Wait times for care for chronic pain patients can range from six months to two and a half years. Wait-times provide an opportunity to use accessible interventions that improve psychosocial function and patients' readiness and ability to actively manage their condition. Self-management is recognized as key to improving self-efficacy and functional outcomes and reducing healthcare costs although engagement of patients depends on their readiness to make change. Patient's self-report of readiness to engage has been reported to be less than 50%, potentially contributing to the frequent drop-out typically seen in prescribed pain rehabilitation programs. There is interest in using virtual methods to improve access to care in a manner that is useful across regions with different resource availability. No online programs have evaluated the effect of Motivational interviewing (MI) on uptake of chronic pain self-management. MI is an intervention that focuses on motivation and commitment for change by exploring and resolving ambivalence. Our aim is to examine the feasibility of an online program designed to enhance readiness for change and self-management of patients waiting for care at the KHSC chronic pain clinic. This program will follow a MI approach and will be comprised of self-directed modules and exercises with coaching support. The study will build the foundation to enable future large-scale, multicenter trials testing the effectiveness of this intervention. Fifty patients will be recruited from the waitlists of 2 CPN clinics (n=25 Kingston, n=25 Toronto). Patients will participate in either the educational control or motivationally enhanced arms. The online education has been previously established and contains 10 weeks of content. Outcomes will be assessed pre and post intervention. Knowledge translation activities are built into our approach and will be led by patient partner and knowledge user team members.