Patient and client coucil / Northern Ireland - Your Voice in health and social care

The painful truth: 2,500 people who live with chronic pain tell their story


The response to this project has been remarkable; more than 2,500 people with long-term pain took time to describe how pain affects their lives, to offer their views on the treatment and care they receive, and to suggest how pain services might improve in the future.

In total 2,525 people contributed to the study; 2,459 people completed a detailed questionnaire, 61 people participated in focus group discussions, and 5 people chose to talk about their experiences of long-term pain in a one-to-one interview.

In this report, the voices of those who suffer from long-term pain are strongest when they describe the impact of pain on their life. People describe the challenges and frustrations of dealing with chronic pain on a daily basis and give personal accounts of the effect of pain on their life.

As well as providing a detailed reflection of what it is like to live with pain on a daily basis, this report addresses a number of key findings in the following areas: –diagnosis, waiting for pain services, long-term support, treatment, and future services.