Programme Overview - 6 Week Living with Persistent Pain Course
Programme overview
Programme overview for our 6 week course - chronic pain management.
Week 1
- Overview of self-management and chronic pain conditions
- What is pain?
- Using your mind to manage symptoms
- Getting a good night's sleep
- Making an action plan
Week 2
- Using your mind to manage symptoms
- Making an action plan
- Action Plan Feedback
- Problem Solving
- Dealing with difficult emotions
- Physical activity and exercise
- Better breathing
- Fatigue Management
Week 3
- Making an action plan
- Action plan feedback
- Physical activity and exercise
- Pacing and planning
- Evaluating treatments
- Making decisions
Week 4
- Making an action plan
- Action plan feedback
- Physical activity and exercise
- Healthy eating
- Communication skills
Week 5
- Using your mind to manage symptoms
- Making an action plan
- Action plan feedback
- Physical activity and exercise
- Medications for chronic pain
- Depression management
Week 6
- Using your mind to manage symptoms
- Making an action plan
- Action plan feedback
- Communication skills
- Working with your health care professional and organisation
- Weight management
- Future plans
Out of course activity by session
Session 1
- Reading covered this session: Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Pain: Chapters 1 & 2; pages 41-43, 52-57, 82-83 •
- Practice using distraction
- If you have access to the internet, view the 5-minute YouTube video: Understanding pain and what to do about it in less than five minutes.
Session 2
- Reading covered this session: Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Pain: Pages 48-52, 57- 69, 79-82, 94-96; Chapters 7 & 9
- Practice better breathing and take a few minutes to do a relaxation exercise a few times this week. Doing this regularly will calm your mind and nervous system.
- Think about how you would like to start an exercise programme or increase the programme that you are now doing.
- In Session 3, we will be talking about making decisions. Please think of something in your life for which you need to make a decision and have it ready for next week’s activity.
Session 3
- Reading covered this session: Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Pain: Pages 22-23; Chapters 6, 8 & 17
- You may want to complete a Activity and Rest Diary like the one at the end of Chapter 6 this week
- This will help you plan ways to better pace your activity and rest over the day.
Session 4
- Reading covered this session: Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Pain: Pages 20-22; Chapters 8, 10 & 13
- Look at the serving sizes of foods using the tables in Chapter 13 and compare that with what you normally eat.
Session 5
- Reading covered this session: Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Pain: Pages 57-63, 84- 89; Chapters 8, 15 & 16
- Keep a food diary for one weekday and one weekend day just like you did a few weeks ago. This time pay careful attention to your portion sizes.
- Make a personal medication list, with names of all your medications, the provider who prescribed it, dosage, date started, reason for taking it, and any drug allergies.
- We would like you to invite you to call, email or write a letter to your doctor/organisation providing this course about what you have accomplished during this course. If you are not pleased with your progress over the past 6 weeks, we would like you to write a letter which will be forwarded to the developers of this course explaining your reasons. The address of your local organisation is: (tutors to give the appropriate address) You don’t have to post or show these letters, if you don’t want to, but please bring them with you next week for your own use in the sharing activity If you do post the letter to your doctor/organisation providing this course, though, it would really help to get the word out about the programme.
Session 6
- Reading covered this session: Living a Health Life With Chronic Pain: Chapters 11&14
Contact our self-care team to find our more information about our health and wellbeing courses, including how to book your place.