Professor explores patients' experience of pain

Through her lecture, Revd. Professor Briggs will argue the need to think differently about the way we view pain in our society and how we might be able to improve pain services in the UK, looking at what is needed to provide a good patient experience within the NHS and exploring the prevention and management of persistent pain.

As Professor Briggs explains: "The Health Survey for England suggests that 31% of men and 37% of women experience chronic pain - defined as pain or discomfort that troubles the person all the time on and off for more than three months. People in chronic pain are seven times more likely to give up their jobs; are more likely to report poor general health and have mean mental health wellbeing scores which are comparable with the lowest 10% in a pain-free population.

"A public health approach could allow us to work towards health promotion to prevent chronic pain and begin to address the deficiency of information around the causes, patterns and effects of pain, which is a major barrier to the improvement of pain services in the UK. My lecture will argue the need for health professionals, policy makers and the public to think differently about the way we view pain in our society and propose that the management of pain is a major public health issue."

Revd. Professor Briggs is a Co-Director of the Pain Research Team at Leeds Metropolitan University. Over the last 20 years, she has been extensively involved in healthcare research and has become a strong advocate and contributor to the Cochrane Collaboration - an international network helping healthcare practitioners, policy-makers, patients, their advocates and carers, to make well-informed decisions about healthcare.

Michelle's research is embedded in the NHS and is used in NHS practice and policy guidelines nationally. She focuses primarily on pain management with the aim of contributing to a greater understanding of how nurses make a difference for people living with persistent pain.

If you would like to tweet during the lecture, you can do so using the hashtag #profmichellebriggs