Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

The proposed study aims to address whether Mental Health smartphone applications (MHapps), such as the JoyPopTM app, can support chronic pain populations in improving emotion regulation and resiliency, ultimately reducing pain symptoms and disability. My study will qualitatively explore health care providers' attitudes and opinions of utilizing MHapps for supporting mental health and well-being of chronic pain patients. It will also qualitatively explore chronic pain patients' attitudes and opinions of utilizing MHapps for supporting their mental health and well-being. 10-20 health care staff (i.e., nurses and doctors) and 10-20 patients will be recruited at an outpatient Chronic Pain Management Program in Thunder Bay Ontario. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted and transcribed. Implications from this study will aid in determining the potential benefits of integrating MHapp tools into standard treatment for chronic pain populations, potentially offering a low-cost, accessible resource for mental health and pain management to enhance treatment efficacy.