Designing a Mobile-Based Solution for Self-management of Chronic Pain

Chronic pain or simply defined as non-malignant pain which last more than 3 months, remains one of the most difficult medical conditions to treat in current times. There is no known cure for chronic pain whereby self-management approaches are often encouraged as part of treatment delivery. A multi-modal bio-psychosocial approach is the key in managing this complex condition. However, such treatments are usually delivered in specialist clinics with long waiting list and high costs. There is also usually a time lag between the patient’s pain experience and the consultation from the clinic. The increasing accessibility of mobile technology platforms in recent years makes them appealing tools for promoting personal health and fitness. Numerous applications (apps) have been designed to track activity levels, set exercise routines, and encourage healthy eating as well as other lifestyle changes. Within the context of chronic pain management, a mobile application incorporating a multidisciplinary treatment model may be able to help people with chronic pain to self-monitor their pain and engage in real-time pain management strategies. This is in addition to addressing the access barriers and costs. It may also support the maintenance of long-term treatment that has been inconsistently achieved with conventional face-to-face sessions. This paper describes the design, development, and evaluation of a first prototype app that includes features to bridge the current gaps in mobile solutions for pain management. Specifically, features that integrate health professional input, elements that address the multidimensional nature of pain and tailored behavior change strategies.