A meta-ethnography of how children and young people with chronic non-cancer pain and their families experience and understand their condition, pain services, and treatments

Abstract

Objectives This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (qualitative). The objectives are as follows: To synthesise qualitative studies that examine the experiences and perceptions of children with chronic pain and their families regarding chronic pain, treatments, and services to inform the design and delivery of health and social care services, interventions, and future research. To explore whether our review findings help to explain the results of Cochrane Reviews of intervention effects of treatments for children's chronic pain. To determine if programme theories and outcomes of interventions match children and their families’ views of desired treatments and outcomes. To use our findings to help inform the selection and design of patient‐reported outcome measures for use in chronic pain studies and interventions and care provision to children and their families. Review questions How do children with chronic non‐cancer pain and their families conceptualise chronic pain? How do children with chronic non‐cancer pain and their families live with chronic pain? What do children with chronic non‐cancer pain and their families think of how health and social care services respond to and manage their own/their child’s chronic pain? What do children with chronic non‐cancer pain and their families conceptualise as ‘good’ chronic pain management, and what do they want to achieve from chronic pain management interventions and services?