What Informs the Choices Young People Living With Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain Make About Their Care? A Qualitative Analysis of Focus Groups With Young People in Australia
Date
Authors
Chua, J
Slater, H
Rowbotham, S
Klem, NR
Lord, SM
O’Sullivan, PB
Tory, B
Smith, AJ
Stinson, JN
Hansen, P
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Abstract
Purpose: To explore how lived and care experiences of young people (aged 16–24 years) who experience chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) influence their choices about CMP care, and how and where a digital health solution (DHS) could support their care. Methods: A cross-sectional, exploratory qualitative study involving 20 young people (16–24 years) experiencing CMP. Eight focus groups were conducted, guided by a focus group schedule. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Three main themes emerged describing young people’s experiences and CMP care choices. For each main theme we identified how a DHS could support their care: (1) “Experiences of living with and managing their CMP.” A DHS could buffer self-care needs by providing timely support and creating a sense of community. (2) “Experiences with healthcare providers and healthcare services.” An app-based DHS could potentially help to coordinate CMP care and support health services navigation. (3) “Young people’s choices about their CMP care options.” DHSs can support young people prioritize their CMP care options. Conclusions: Understanding young people’s values, alongside their care needs is critical to delivering person-centred care. A tailored DHS can value-add to young people’s CMP care by helping to minimize the burden of self-care, health service navigation and interactions with healthcare providers.Description
Keywords
Musculoskeletal pain, care choices, decision making, digital health, health services, qualitative research, trade-off, young people, 32 Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, 4201 Allied Health and Rehabilitation Science, 4203 Health Services and Systems, 3202 Clinical Sciences, 42 Health Sciences, Chronic Pain, Pain Research, Clinical Research, Health Services, 7.1 Individual care needs, 8.1 Organisation and delivery of services, Generic health relevance, 3 Good Health and Well Being, 11 Medical and Health Sciences, Rehabilitation, 32 Biomedical and clinical sciences, 42 Health sciences, 44 Human society
Source
Disability and Rehabilitation, ISSN: 0963-8288 (Print); 1464-5165 (Online), Informa UK Limited, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), 1-21. doi: 10.1080/09638288.2025.2585762
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© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.