Self-Management Navigator Tool
Chronic pain impacts more than just the body. We know that for people living with pain, raising concerns about wider aspects of health in appointments with their health-care professional is not always easy and their concerns and worries do not always feel relevant. Doctors can also find it difficult to introduce wider issues around pain during routine appointments. Our research (which you can read here) shows how exploring wider aspects of pain can benefit people’s ability to self-manage their pain.
Material for healthcare professionals to make consultations more holistic and encourage self-management is already widely used (for example Realistic Medicine, Year of Care and House of Care) and Pain Concern has now developed a paper-based tool for patients to prepare themselves to bring up their concerns and worries in appointments. Designed to help patients navigate their concerns and bring the most important questions up in primary care appointments, the Navigator Tool was trialled 2017-2018 with healthcare professionals and their chronic pain patients.
- To order for free or download the full revised Self-Management Navigator Tool, please visit our our online shop.
- To download the individual forms of the Navigator Tool at home, click here.
- Watch our video series on the tool below. Remember you can turn on captions by clicking ‘cc’ at the bottom of the video.
- You can read the full report here.
Remember, you can turn on subtitles by clicking ‘CC’ at the bottom of any of our Navigator Tool videos!
Download Now
The study found that the most useful aspect of the tool was the My pain concerns form, as it identifies areas of living with pain that do not usually come up in routine consultations. We encourage people with pain, and healthcare professionals caring for people with pain, to use the form in appointments.
If you are the person with pain, download My pain concerns form to your tablet, computer or print a paper copy.
HINT: How you feel about the statements may change from day-to-day; choose agree or disagree according to what you feel is right now.
The form Questions to ask your health-care professional has some suggested questions that you might want to ask. You might also have your own questions based on the concerns you have identified.
HINT: My pain concerns form and Questions to ask your health-care professional are colour-coded to make them easier to use together.
If you are a healthcare professional you can give My pain concerns form to patients you think will benefit from talking about these issues. Simply print out the form and instructions at your practice and give them to your patient to prepare for the next appointment.
