Evaluation of the Airing Pain radio series discussing the effects of chronic pain on ex-military personnel

Abstract: Background: The charity Pain Concern produced three episodes of their Airing Pain radio programme focusing on chronic pain amongst veterans of the Armed Forces. An evaluation of this veterans’ mini-series was undertaken to gather a wide range of feedback on the programmes. The evaluation sought insight into the extent to which the programmes could inform both healthcare professionals and veterans and help support the management of chronic pain in this community. Method: To gather a wide range of feedback three levels of input were sought: telephone interviews of about 15 minutes were held with 5 healthcare professionals; 2 focus groups with a total of 9 participants were held with veterans; and short surveys were completed by 8 members of the Pain Concern team. Findings: Very positive comments were received from healthcare professionals and the programmes were considered a useful resource which would be shared with colleagues and could be used for training purposes. The programmes piqued the interest of the healthcare professionals and they were motivated to further explore the information they had learned in the programme and listen to other programmes in the Airing Pain series. The challenge may lie in persuading healthcare professionals that the programmes have useful insights for them and are not only targeted at the veterans themselves. The veterans also felt the programmes would be useful as an information tool for healthcare professionals. The veterans were more tentative about the programmes as a resource to inform and support their own pain management. Some felt the programme had a positive emphasis that did not represent their own experiences. Shorter, more concise programmes may have been preferable with a wider range of interviewees to whom the listeners may have been better able to relate. However, there was still some interest in listening to more of the programmes and recommending them to others, including friends and family. The internal evaluation of members of the Pain Concern team found the programmes to be high quality and well produced. Conclusions: The veterans’ mini-series should definitely be promoted to healthcare professionals as a valuable resource which can help them to support the management of chronic pain in veterans. The programmes may appeal to some veterans, in particular those early in their chronic pain condition and could be a useful resource to suggest to family and friends. Shorter, snappier podcasts with a wider range of experiences may be a preferable medium for the majority of this audience.