A Qualitative Study Into the Experience of Patients Being Assessed for and Attending an Online Pain Management Programme During the Covid-19 Pandemic

The primary research question is 'what are the experiences of patients being assessed for and attending an OPMP during the covid 19 pandemic'. Within this, there are numerous strands:

We aim to gain an understanding of:

• Participants' decision making processes in relation to acceptance of assessment and treatment for an OPMP in the context of the Covid 19 pandemic.
• The influence of the global pandemic on these decision making processes
• The perceived influence of the global pandemic on treatment engagement and outcomes themselves

We also aim to:

• Understand participants' reflections on their choice to engage in an OPMP having completed it (e.g. would they have made a different decision on reflection?).
• To inform future practice should significant changes to service delivery occur. This could be both in short term (i.e. within the context of the current global pandemic), or longer term (i.e. as a result of other factors which could affect changes to treatment modality).
• Inform our understanding of participants' experiences of the assessment process for attending an OPMP which may help to improve our assessment processes moving forwards.
• To gain preliminary understandings (via questionnaire) of NHS Staff's experiences of changes to PMP delivery during the pandemic.