The Lived Experience of Pain Services: A Comparison of Service Users’ and Service Providers’ Experience of Irish Health Services

Background: A supportive healthcare experience that implements a biopsychosocial model of care can empower a person with chronic pain to make informed decisions and engage in self‐management behaviours. Despite the positive influence of supportive healthcare, little is known about the presence of healthcare support in under‐resourced chronic pain services. This idiographic study explores the lived experience of service users and providers participating in chronic pain services with a specific focus on autonomy support and self‐management skills. Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted on service users ( n = 7) self‐reporting a diagnosis of chronic pain (pain > 3 months) and service providers ( n = 5), defined as healthcare professionals with > 3 years of experience in clinical healthcare settings managing pain conditions. All interviews took place online (mean 47 ± 11 min). Interview transcripts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results: Analyses generated four themes: ‘biomedical model leads care’; ‘lost in a system’; ‘I need support’ and ‘the essentials of self‐management’. Both service users and providers described regular experiences of invalidation and biomedical approaches to pain management. Long waitlists, a lack of multidisciplinary services, short appointment times and a lack of educational resources all impacted the development of self‐management skills in service users. Conclusion: Despite clinical guidelines recommending a biopsychosocial model of care, the biomedical model remains the dominant approach in chronic pain management, reflecting a persistent gap between evidence and practice. Service users and providers desire access to multidisciplinary services that support a biopsychosocial model of care. Healthcare professionals cannot deliver what service users expect due to macro‐, meso‐ and microlevel factors. Future research is needed to explore practical solutions to deliver pain services that optimise the development of self‐management skills where existing infrastructure and resources negatively impact service delivery. Suggested approaches include enhancing autonomy‐supportive communication by healthcare providers and ensuring early access to high‐quality educational materials.