PAW toolkit (Pain at Work)
Pain-at-Work Toolkit: a toolkit for people with chronic or persistent pain in the workplace
Chronic or persistent pain affects around 28 million adults in the UK, reducing their quality of life and people’s ability to work or be productive at work. Sickness absence and reduced productivity costs the UK economy around £73 billion per year.
The Pain-at-Work (PAW) Toolkit was developed by Professor Holly Blake and her team, in partnership with people living with chronic or persistent pain, employers, healthcare professionals, and Burning Nights (Registered Charity No. 1166522).
The aim is to equip people who have pain with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to:
- effectively self-manage a painful condition atwork
- access help and support
- enjoy a better work experience
- and remain in the workforce
You can read more about how the toolkit was developed here.
The Pain-at-Work trial is currently testing the feasibility and acceptability of the Pain-At-Work toolkit for employers and employees. It is funded by the Nuffield Foundation and Versus Arthritis as part of The Oliver Bird Fund. The study protocol can be found here.
Visit the Pain-at-Work Project website.
Additional members from the Pain Centre Versus Arthritis, including Professor David Walsh, Professor Roger Knaggs, and Dr Daniel McWilliams, contributed to stakeholder consultation and expert review as part of the development process. In addition, several Pain Centre Versus Arthritis PhD students were able to contribute and participate in the Toolkit’s development offering valuable practical skills in the process of pain tool development.
There are five key sections to the toolkit:
- What is chronic or persistent pain?
- Chronic or persistent pain and disability
- Self-management strategies
- Resources
For more information, contact the project lead, Professor Holly Blake, School of Health Sciences, at hollly.blake@nottingham.ac.uk or the project researcher, Wendy Chaplin, at Wendy.Chaplin1@nottingham.ac.uk.