LIVING WITH BACK PAIN ON TEESSIDE: THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF BACK PAIN

Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of this research is to use an anthropological approach to examine the narratives of individuals living in Teesside, who have been diagnosed with mechanical back pain at a nurse led Spinal Assessment Clinic. The narratives that people use to construct their back pain must be taken into account if they are to be helped, as their beliefs about their problem will impact upon their expectations and compliance.

Method: After their first appointment in the Spinal Assessment Clinic, individuals who were diagnosed with mechanical back pain were invited to join the research. Each individual was interviewed three times as they progressed through the clinic system. The second time was after they had or had not attended the back pain management classes. The last interview was after their final review and they were discharged from the clinic. The interviews were casual with very little input from the researcher.

Conclusion: Individuals appear to have a hidden agenda when they attend the clinic and this helps them to decide whether to accept or dismiss their diagnosis. The narrative used by the multidisciplinary team is interpreted according to each persons agenda often leaving individuals with a totally different interpretation to that intended by the multi disciplinary team. People appear to tell clinicians what they think they want to hear, but during their interviews for this research different narratives often emerged.

Listening to people’s life stories and examining the narrative they use to explain their back problems can enable the multi disciplinary team to better understand individuals and their problems and assist in their own professional development as well as improving services for patients.