Revd. Professor Michelle Briggs is a Professor of Nursing and a Director of the Centre for Pain Research at Leeds Metropolitan University. Qualifying as a nurse in 1990, Michelle worked in orthopaedics in Nottingham and the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service in London, before moving to Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust followed by Leeds Community Healthcare. In 2008, Michelle was ordained as a minister in the Church of England and is an Assistant Chaplain to the Universities' of Leeds. Over the last 20 years, Michelle has been extensively involved in healthcare research. She has held a National Institute Health Research (NIHR) post-doctoral fellowship at the School of Healthcare, Leeds University. Here she developed in-depth knowledge and experience in systematic review methodology and has become a regular contributor to the Cochrane Collaboration; an international network helping healthcare practitioners, policy-makers, patients, their advocates and carers, to make well-informed decisions about healthcare. She has also completed systematic reviews of qualitative research using Joanna Briggs QARI methodology and meta-ethnography. Michelle's research is embedded in the NHS and is used in practice and policy guidelines nationally. She focuses primarily on pain management with the aim of contributing to a greater understanding of how nurses make a difference for people living with persistent pain. Her current research has two themes:- improving the patient experience and inequalities in pain management: bridging the gap for hard-to-reach communities. Patients' experience of pain: Bedsores, being judged and beliefs In 2012, the Department of Health published the NHS Patient Experience Framework detailing elements of care which are essential to improving patients' experience of the NHS. This was closely followed by the publication of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance and quality standards. Both documents highlight the central role of paying attention to pain in achieving good patient experiences. Drawing on work from completed research, Revd. Professor Briggs's lecture will explore the prevention and management of pain by mapping the current patient experiences of pain from three different perspectives: 1) bedsores 2) being judged 3) beliefs. It will demonstrate the challenge of living in persistent pain. The lecture will argue the need for health professionals, policy-makers and the public to think differently about the way we view pain in our society and propose that the management of pain is a major public health issue. The Health Survey for England suggests that 31% of men and 37% of women experience chronic pain defined as "pain or discomfort that troubles the person... for more than three months". People in chronic pain are seven times more likely to give up their jobs; are more likely to report poor general health and have mean mental health wellbeing scores which are comparable with the lowest 10% in a pain-free population. A public health approach could allow us to work towards health promotion to prevent chronic pain and begin to address the deficiency of information around the causes, patterns and effects of pain, which is a major barrier. For more information please visit http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk

• published: 29 Nov 2013
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