Professional Coping Strategies in a Temporal Perspective: A Pilot Study on How Swedish General Practitioners Deal With Challenges Inherent in Pain Management

Tove Lundberg,Stina Melander

doi:10.1177/21582440211040116

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore how general practitioners cope with the challenges they face when trying to provide effective interventions to pain patients within the organizational context of a health center. Based on interviews with 15 Swedish providers, the study suggests that the challenges that general practitioners experience in the consultations with patients must be understood in a temporal perspective related to the process of care (from initial consultations to “post-treatment”) and the help-seeking process (close to the onset of problems or later). The coping strategies used to handle these challenges can be summarized into four major domains. First, participants adopted a biopsychosocial model to provide proper care. Second, they employed strategies to enhance communication. Third, they coped with the organizational environment, and fourth, they used strategies to cope emotionally. The study contributes to a holistic perspective on providers’ coping strategies by addressing temporal and organizational aspects.

Highlights

Chronic pain has been estimated to affect approximately 24 to 54% of the Swedish population (Bergman et al, 2001; Gerdle et al, 2004), and developing effective interventions for chronic pain is considered a public health priority
The research question of the study is: Research Question 1 (RQ1): How do general practitioners cope with the challenges they face when trying to provide effective and supportive interventions to pain patients within the organizational context of a health center?
The aim of this study was to explore how general practitioners cope with the challenges they face when trying to provide interventions to pain patients from a holistic perspective, including individual, organizational, and temporal factors

Summary

Introduction

Chronic pain has been estimated to affect approximately 24 to 54% of the Swedish population (Bergman et al, 2001; Gerdle et al, 2004), and developing effective interventions for chronic pain is considered a public health priority. Several studies suggest that general practitioners face challenges in providing evidence-based and patient-centered chronic pain care Some of these include dealing with the diverse perspectives that patients and health professionals hold regarding the causes of pain (Nielsen et al, 2013; Phelan et al, 2009) and the different expectations on appropriate interventions (Brown, 2004; Darlow, 2016; Lundberg & Melander, 2019; Matthias & Bair, 2010).

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