Managing Chronic Pain in the Classroom: Development and Usability Testing of an eHealth Educational Intervention for Educators

Abstract

Although chronic pain is relatively common in childhood, many teachers feel ill-prepared to work with students with chronic and recurrent pain in the classroom and would like to learn more about supporting these students. A web-based eHealth intervention designed to provide information about pain and pain management in the classroom was developed based on input from clinicians, and usability was tested using three groups of stakeholders (i.e., youth with chronic pain, parents of youth with chronic pain, and teachers). Preliminary testing indicated that the usability goals were met, with the majority of participants in all groups indicating that the website was easy to use and that they would either recommend it to teachers or use it themselves. Minor design and content changes were suggested and made, whereas major changes will be made in the future. Results provide encouraging preliminary support for the utility of eHealth interventions as knowledge translation and dissemination tools for educators.