Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Musculoskeletal (MSK) diseases are the most common cause of severe chronic pain and disability worldwide. Evidence shows that changes in lifestyle can reduce pain and enhance quality of life for people with MSK diseases. Programmes to support MSK patients to manage their disease by making lifestyle changes (e.g. increased physical activity) are often too standardized to meet the needs of patients in different contexts. Digital technologies offer great versatility in offering support when and where it is needed by patients. If we are to maximize the potential of digital technologies to support patients in improving their health, more research is needed to improve the user-friendliness of digital tools available. A necessary next step is to gain in-depth insight into the perspectives of MSK patients on the barriers and facilitators specific to the contexts in which they use digital technologies to manage their disease. My study has 3 objectives: 1) to understand MSK patients' perspectives on how they manage their disease; 2) to investigate MSK patients' views and experiences of using digital technologies in managing their disease; 3) to compare and contrast experiences of MSK patients using digital technologies to manage their disease in multiple contexts across Canada. To achieve these objectives, I will 1) analyze data collected from 21 MSK patients to identify salient themes in their experiences of managing their disease; 2) hold 6-7 focus groups with MSK patients in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta to develop understanding of a range of perspectives of using digital technologies in managing MSK diseases; 3) hold interviews with 36 patients with 3 common types of MSK disease following their use of a digital media intervention designed to support improvement in their management of their disease. Findings can provide recommendations on how digital technologies can be used to offer meaningful support for patients' management of MSK diseases.