Exploring Expressive Writing with Patients With Chronic Pain During Primary Care Visits

Area of Science:

• Primary Care Medicine
• Health Psychology
• Patient-Clinician Communication

Background:

• Chronic pain patients often experience frustration and neglect from clinicians, leading to poor healthcare experiences.
• Clinicians seek effective methods to engage and connect with patients managing chronic pain.
• Expressive writing may enhance patient-clinician communication and connection during medical visits.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility and impact of the Three-Minute Mental Makeover (3MMM) expressive writing activity.
• To explore patient and physician experiences with the 3MMM in primary care settings.
• To identify benefits and barriers of using expressive writing in chronic pain management.

Main Methods:

• The Three-Minute Mental Makeover (3MMM) activity was implemented with 15 chronic pain patients and 5 family medicine physicians.
• Data were collected through pre- and post-visit surveys and individual interviews with patients and physicians.
• Qualitative analysis identified key themes related to the patient-physician experience.

Main Results:

• Both patients and physicians reported positive experiences with the 3MMM activity.
• Key themes included enhanced communication, personal insight, closeness, comfort, and mutual learning.
• Major barriers to implementation were time constraints and physician buy-in.

Conclusions:

• The 3MMM expressive writing exercise shows promise for improving relationships, communication, and trust between chronic pain patients and clinicians.
• Integrating such activities could lead to more positive and effective healthcare interactions.
• Further research is needed to overcome implementation barriers and optimize its use in clinical practice.