Flippin Pain: A Public Health Campaign Evaluation

An Evaluation of an Online Webinar Aimed at Shifting the Beliefs of the UK Population Regarding Persistent Pain

An online webinar aiming to improve the public beliefs related to persistent pain will be offered to members of the public in the UK via social media and targeted via written invitation to individuals on a waiting list for pain and musculoskeletal services in Ayrshire and Arran, Scotland.

Flippin Pain is a UK based public health campaign which aims to shift the populations perception related to persistent pain to one that is aligned with contemporary pain science understanding. The webinar will be presented by a panel consisting of people with a history of persistent pain and healthcare professionals with experience of treating persistent pain. The webinar will be advertised on social media. When registrants receive their confirmation email confirming their place they will be notified of of the invitation to participate. This link within the email will take them to an online participant information sheet. Once this is read they may decide to proceed with an online survey which would take 10 minutes to complete. This survey will include some non identifiable demographic data and the Pain Beliefs Questionnaire (PBQ). The PBQ is a validated tool that does not require a license to use. The survey will be administered immediately after the webinar, at 3, 6 and 12 months to assess for longitudinal changes in pain beliefs. Another recruitment strategy will be the posted invitation to individuals on a National health Service waiting list. Both groups will complete the same survey questions. The last question of the survey will request the participants email so that future surveys can be sent and the follow ups linked by participant. Individuals will also be asked within the survey if they consent to further contact about the opportunity to answer questions vie a telephone/online interview related to their experience of the webinar. Purposive sampling will be used to recruit 15-20 individuals for a semi structured interview.

The intervention will be educational in the form of the provision of contemporary pain science education and supportive advice from people with a history of persistent pain. The duration of the webinar will be 90 minutes.

An explanation of contemporary pain science and a description of effective treatment strategies used by people with a history of persistent pain.

Inclusion Criteria: Resident within the United Kingdom Over the age of 18 years Exclusion Criteria: Unable to read the English version of the surveys