RF-EOI-24-002

Chronic musculoskeletal pain costs 10 billion pounds a year to the UK economy. Although we know simple devices can be effective in managing pain, we don’t know if providing a box of selected devices can empower people to manage their condition at home well enough that they use healthcare services less. Myhealthkits is a start-up partnering with the NHS, providing customised boxes for common chronic medical conditions. Our research shows that our existing kits empower patients to manage their condition better at home. Our research proposal is to create a new box for chronic musculoskeletal pain, co-developing this with patients to ensure it caters to their actual needs. We will use sensemaker tools to identify sociocultural barriers to musculoskeletal pain treatment. We will then trial the product in a primary care network to see if it is cost-effective for how much it helps patients.

At myhealthkits, we have shown that a combined box of simple assistive devices effectively improves mobility and activities of daily living in older adults and people with diabetes and other chronic conditions. However, there is a lack of evidence on whether such a box can empower patients to self-manage their pain effectively. With this funding, we will co-develop a pain management kit to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain and improve mobility. Working with clinicians and patient experts, we will evaluate its effectiveness in the community, particularly for patients awaiting surgery as a prehabilitation tool.

We’ll engage key stakeholders, including patients and clinical experts, in small groups to streamline our clinical offering. Employing sensemaker tools, we’ll highlight sociocultural barriers to pain management and improve them. Our team includes a consultant pain specialist, primary care network leads with expertise in sensemaker tools, ensuring expert guidance and logistics support. We’ll co-create the box content using the Delphi methodology, aiming for 3 rounds, to solidify products patients need. To evaluate clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, we’ll roll out the box in the community and assess metrics with EQ5D5L and MODRUM tools which we have used to evaluate other boxes.

Our research will improve community-based pain management for the underserved population with chronic musculoskeletal pain; upto 50% of the UK populace as per NICE. By co-creating these boxes with patients, we will ensure the tools cater to their actual needs. These tailored boxes will empower patients to better understand their condition, control symptoms, and complete daily activities. These initiatives promote wellbeing, reduce healthcare burdens, and prevent complications from poor mobility, such as falls. The manufacturing infrastructure we have in place will allow us to rapidly scale our research into kits available to be prescribed by healthcare professionals