What is it about?

This article is part of the research Kath Clarke conducted for her PhD about the experience of chronic pain. The focus here is on chronic pain for which there is no visible evidence in the sufferer. It covers the way sufferers manage being believed and then how such conditions can be managed and supported by health professionals.

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Why is it important?

Understanding the nature of 'invisible' sources of pain is vital both for formal and informal carers. It is hard enough for the sufferer when there is no clear explanation for their pain - but that experience is doubly magnified when others might not believe in their suffering. The article expands on the methodology Kath adopted to 'make sense' of the ways in which her subjects reported their pain experiences - so it also offers a useful model for research practitioners interested in adopting phenomenological/hermeneutic approaches to the condition of interest. It is particularly important in accessing the subjective experience of suffering.

Perspectives

As second author on this piece, and Kath's PhD supervisor at the time, I can honestly claim it an honour to have supported Kath while conducting this research. She knew what the problem was and sought the best way of offering insights into it and, in turn, further supporting the patients which she knew needed to have their experience explained - to themselves as well as to others.

Dr Ron Iphofen
Independent

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: A phenomenological hermeneutic study into unseen chronic pain, British Journal of Nursing, May 2008, Mark Allen Group,
DOI: 10.12968/bjon.2008.17.10.29482.
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Contributors

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