Grant: Project Grant

Increasingly patients and family members have been involved in research and delivery of care. However to date many of these patients have been drawn from middle class families and may therefore not represent those patients who are poor and who because of their poverty may have different issues to deal with in managing their health conditions. Our team previously spoke with family physicians about the work they do in caring for patients with chronic pain. From them we learned that many of the patients they find most challenging to help also suffer from poverty, mental health and addiction. While these findings from our first study had profound implications for how patient care is delivered in Ontario, we did not specifically speak with patients and thus cannot know with confidence how our findings may effect them. Our current research proposal will therefore be aimed at understanding the experiences of patients with chronic pain, who are also dealing with mental health issues, addiction and/or poverty, in order to better understand how the social context of their lives might impact how they are (or are not) able to manage their chronic pain. We would like to know what they consider to be the most pressing priorities and needs from their perspective. We will then use this important information to significantly improve chronic pain delivery in Ontario in ways that are sensitive to the needs and experiences of these patients. We hope that these improvements should ultimately help improve the health of all Canadians and also help future researchers be able to collaborate with a more diverse range of patients in their studies. Institution Paid: University of Toronto.