POS0064-PARE DESIGN OF AN INNOVATIVE MHEALTH SOLUTION FOR FIGHTING STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC PAIN
Authors: Y. Koumpouros, K. Antonopoulou, A. Pappa, K. Tsekoura, N. Malliou, M. Salamaliki, E. Oikonomoula, S. Makri
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2021)

Background: Pain is associated with a plethora of diseases. The statistics reveal that chronic pain affects around 100 million people across Europe and is closely associated with high unemployment rates, depression, substance abuse &amp; social exclusion. Stigma is a significant and persistent problem for those with chronic pain. Lack of public awareness &amp; stigma associated with pain affect not only patients but also society. Objectives: The present research proposes a holistic solution to combat stigma using the latest technological developments. A mobile health application has been designed in order to serve the various stakeholders (patients, families, community) in the field under study. The objective of the final “StigmApp” solution is 4-fold:(i) to facilitate pain management, (ii) to aware the general public, (iii) to educate all different parties &amp; (iv) to facilitate actions &amp; research to combat stigma. Another innovative feature is that it delivers the required information to each party in a highly automated, personalized &amp; digestible way making the whole experience enjoyable, while ensuring user engagement. Methods: A multidisciplinary team was formed at the beginning of the project in order to ensure the desired outcome. Two patient organizations from Cyprus &amp; Greece, two behavioral scientists, three physicians, one psychologist, ten citizens, ten patients, two marketeers and two experts in mobile health applications participated. A participatory design methodology was followed in order to capture &amp; address the whole user experience. Results: An iterative process was followed bringing &amp; different end-users on board. The different parties evaluated and assessed all modules implemented providing appropriate feedback. It currently runs only on Android operating system and supports: (i) pain management (intense &amp;points of pain, medications used, underlying diseases, life style, etc.),(ii) raise awareness &amp; education (through information nuggets &amp; bite-sized learning), (iii) “Share your story” option to inspire others, (iv) fund raising using crowd-funding techniques, (v) become a volunteer, (vi) organize an inspiring event, (vii) networking, (viii) automatic creation of infographics on how pain affects peoples’ lives. It has been awarded the first prize by BMP Innovation Grant. Conclusion: StigmApp has been designed to support the ecosystem around chronic pain regardless of the underlying disease. Our main concern is to raise awareness in order to fight stigma associated with pain &amp; make life easier for patients &amp; their families. The involvement of all different potential actors in the design guarantees a product/service that could meet their needs &amp; can be applied in real life. In the next months the final solution will be piloted by a number of different end users in order to assess it under real life conditions. References: [1]Fayaz A, Croft P, Langford RM, Donaldson LJ, Jones GT. Prevalence of chronic pain in the UK: a systematic review &amp; meta-analysis of population studies. BMJ Open 2016 Jun 20;6(6):e010364. DOI:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010364. PMID:27324708; PMCID: PMC4932255. [2]Koumpouros Y, Georgoulas A. A systematic review of mhealth funded R&amp;D activities in EU. Trends, technologies and obstacles, Informatics for Health&amp;Social Care. 2020;45(2):168-187. DOI:10.1080/17538157.2019.1656208. Epub2019 Nov 19. PMID:31743060. [3]Lalloo C, Jibb LA, Rivera J, Agarwal A, Stinson JN. There’s a Pain App for That: review of patient-targeted smartphone applications for pain management.Clin J Pain.2015;31(6):557–63. DOI:10.1097/AJP.0000000000000171. [4]De Ruddere, Liesa, Craig, Kenneth D. Understanding stigma &amp; chronic pain:a-state-of-the-art review,PAIN:August 2016-Volume 157-Issue 8-p1607-1610, doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000512 Acknowledgements: The project is funded by the Brain, Mind, and Pain, Patient-Centred Innovation Grant. Many thanks to the two patient organizations Hellenic League Against Rheumatism &amp; Cyprus League Against Rheumatism for their valuable contribution in the project. Disclosure of Interests: None declared.