Australia’s first website dedicated to musculoskeletal pain will soon mark its third anniversary with a greatly expanded offering of pain management tips, skills and information for consumers.
painHEALTH, a project of WA Health, Curtin University and the University of Western Australia, has received over five million hits from over 400,000 individual visitors in less than three years.
People with pain from around WA rural areas as well as metropolitan areas are accessing the website, along with others from over 140 countries globally.
According to WA Health Chief Medical Officer Professor Gary Geelhoed, the site’s success owes a lot to the personalised sharing of pain journeys.
“Through video clips featuring real musculoskeletal pain sufferers, stories are told in a relatable way,” said Professor Geelhoed.
painHEALTH offers practical evidence-based pain management strategies for people with various conditions including osteoarthritis, low back and neck pain and rheumatoid arthritis.
The revised content has been prepared by leading clinicians and researchers from around Australia.
New topics include what you can do to help manage ankylosing spondylitis, YouTube clips for Aboriginal people with low back pain and comprehensively updated and expanded resources for all sections, based on the latest evidence.
“The updated painHEALTH includes new peer reviewed literature and many new resources,” said Professor Geelhoed.
“A further update will be released later in 2016, reflecting the dynamic nature of this website and the commitment of the project partners to continually keep it up to date and relevant for people with musculoskeletal pain.”
For more information, visit the painHEALTH website (external site).