MY RELIEF- Evidence Based Information to Support People Aged 55+ Years Living and Working With Persistent Low-back Pain.

Overview

Low back pain is the main cause of activity limitation and work absence across the world, leading to a high social and economic burden for individuals, families, the labour market and society. This is particularly true for older adults of working age, employed in sedentary or arduous/strenuous jobs, whose work conditions may influence negatively this health problem and lead to severe persistent low back pain. Pain management is one of the most neglected aspects of healthcare and people suffering from persistent low back pain are often left without specific information, guidance and care from healthcare systems. The MY-RELEF study is a multinational, multicenter, prospective uncontrolled, pre-post intervention feasibility study targeting people over the age of 55 years with persistent low back pain in Northern Lithuania, Ireland, Italy, Sweden and Portugal. Eligible participants will be offered the opportunity to use the MY RELIEF educational platform as part of their care and will undergo evaluations at baseline (enrollment) and at two-weeks and one-month follow-ups.

A Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) called MY RELIEF, have been developed. MY-RELIEF is built on best practices in e-learning, e-health and multimedia-based learning. The training package will be available on mobile devices such as a mobile phone or a tablet. The training is designed in short modules (10-12 minutes per module), possible to complete during a break in work. The MOOC will include short videos with older workers (aged 55+ years) with low back pain and professional experts, as well as knowledge tests and short factual texts. In addition, the target audience will have access to a serious game on their mobile phone that will track their health, and provide feedback on their potentially changing health status, and their engagement with the MOOC units. The aim for this study is to determinate usability, acceptability and feasibility of a digital education program (MY-RELIEF) delivered via a MOOC for people aged 55+ years with persistent low back pain who are in sedentary or physically demanding jobs, and need advice on ergonomics, self-management of pain and healthy behavioral strategies. The usability of the intervention will be measured with an industry standard tool to understand peoples ease of interaction with the MOOC and acceptability of the content and format of the MOOC will be measured via qualitative feedback from users. Feasibility will be informed by the data on likely recruitment and follow up rates in each country for a main trial, floor and ceiling effects and completion rates on outcome measures, and likely within group effect sizes in response to the MOOC. MY-RELIEF will help to improve and expand the range of high quality learning opportunities tailored to the needs of people over the age of 55 years.