Pain at Work (PAW) Trial

Does your organisation want to be involved in research that aims to help people manage a long-term condition at work?

Chronic or persistent pain affects around 28 million adults in the UK, reducing quality of life and people's ability to work or be productive at work. Sickness absence and reduced productivity costs the UK economy £73 billion per year.

Access to work advice and support for people living with pain is variable. Most people with chronic pain do not receive work advice through healthcare services, and employers do not routinely provide education or support for people with chronic pain.

The Pain-at-Work (PAW) Toolkit aims to equip people who have pain with the knowledge, skills and confidence to:

• effectively self-manage a painful condition at work
• access help and support
• enjoy a better work experience
• and remain in the workforce.

If you are interested in more information or in joining the trial please contact Wendy Chaplin at Wendy.Chaplin1@nottingham.ac.uk 

The Research

This involves recruiting organisations and delivering the online toolkit to employees across the UK through their workplace. The Toolkit is a simple and relatively short online package with advice, signposting, and links to resources. The content can be read or listened to. The toolkit was developed with input from employers and people who have chronic pain, and it has been pilot tested already.

How Can Your Organisation Help?

The key role as an organisation is to allow contact with your employees to allow them to decide if they would like to take part, individuals fill out a consent form themselves.

The participants are employees who self-report chronic or persistent pain – although there is no obligation for employers that agree to take part to ensure there are individual employees who sign up, we would ask that you promote the study information as widely as possible around your organisation. Given the proportion of people in the general public who live (and work) with chronic pain conditions, we would anticipate that there would be some interest/take-up from within all the participating organisations.

Rest assured that your efforts will be duly acknowledged, and your confidentiality will be strictly maintained throughout the study. We have taken all necessary measures to ensure the ethical and professional conduct of this research, and your input will be invaluable in producing reliable and actionable results.

Click here for an overview of the study

Contribution to Research

By participating in this study, you will contribute to the collective knowledge of occupational health and wellbeing. Your insights and experiences will help shape best practices and inform future research endeavours, benefitting not only your employees but also the wider business community.

Who is conducting the study?

Wendy Chaplin, Researcher for The Pain at Work Trial

School of Health Sciences University of Nottingham

How to join the trial

If you are interested in more information or in joining the trial please contact Wendy Chaplin at Wendy.Chaplin1@nottingham.ac.uk 

You can find out more about the trial and the information sheets for employers and employees, please visit the PAW Trial website.