PAINLANG
THE LANGUAGE OF PAIN
A PROGRAM OF RESEARCH INTO THE LANGUAGE USED
ABOUT PAIN IN DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT AND MANAGEMENT
March 2008
THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN PAIN AND PAIN RESEARCH
PainLang stands for "Pain Language" or language used about pain. PainLang is the
name of an interdisciplinary research project at the University of Queensland. The
goal of the PainLang project is to investigate the role of language used about pain in
its diagnosis, treatment and management, and the contribution of pain language to the
support and lifestyle quality of pain sufferers.
The PainLang project begins from the position that there is no definitive proof
of the existence or nature of pain. Neither observation nor instrumental testing is able
to provide conclusive evidence. There can be pain without physical cause, and
physical symptoms without pain. And there are many kinds of pain: physical,
emotional and spiritual.
A key source of information about pain – and much more than just information
– is language: language used about pain between doctor and patient, patient and
therapist, patient and patient, patient and support groups; and language used about
pain more generally in the professional and public literature.
Verbal communication about pain, however, can be anything but
straightforward. People can under-report and over-report; be too technical, vague,
evasive; be wittingly or unwittingly misleading; and much more. The accurate and
appropriate interpretation of pain language is in urgent need of investigation.
GOALS
The goal of the PainLang project is to enhance our understanding and use of
language in the diagnosis, treatment and management of pain.
This involves seven key tasks:
•
a critical evaluation of current best practice in pain language;
•
the design, development, testing & validation of new pain language instruments;
•
the ways in which the evidence of pain language matches evidence from other
sources of information and evidence about pain;
•
the application of the new instruments to different purposes and populations;
•
the investigation of pain discourses and the ways in which conversation about
pain complements existing word-based models of pain language;
•
pain language beyond English: the role of pain language in selected languages
and cultures, and the role of pain language in intercultural communication;
•
the development of theoretical and intellectual frameworks appropriate to the
new pain language instruments, concepts and practice.
PainLang is an interdisciplinary project which will involve experts from a number of
domains, including:
• Occupational therapy
• Pain medicine
• Linguistics and sociolinguistics
• Psychology
• Intercultural communication
• Nursing
• Palliative care
The PainLang project will address pain sufferers, pain professionals, and people
associated with pain in a variety of contexts:
•
chronic and acute pain;
•
pain sufferers of different ages, ethnic groups and language backgrounds;
•
different contexts of pain diagnosis, treatment and management / care;
•
pain physicians, people involved in the treatment and management of pain, pain
carers and family and other supporters.
KEY INVESTIGATORS
Jenny Strong
Professor of Occupational Therapy
School of Health & Rehabilitation
Sciences
The University of Queensland
Queensland 4072
Australia
Telephone 07 3365 2096
email: j.strong@uq.edu.au
Roland Sussex
Professor of Applied Language Studies
School of Languages & Comparative
Cultural Studies
The University of Queensland
Queensland 4072
Australia
Telephone: +61 7 3365 6896
email: sussex@uq.edu.au
Geoff Mitchell
Associate Professor in General Practice
School of Medicine
The University of Queensland
Queensland 4072
Australia
Telephone +61 7 3354 5504
email: g.mitchell@uq.edu.au
Frank New
Consultant Psychiatrist
Professor Tess Cramond MultiDisciplinary Pain Centre
Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital
Fax: +61 7 3852 4446
email: frankjnew@gmail.com
Stephen Hoey
Therapy Solutions
Suite 6, 7 O’Connell Terrace
Bowen Hills 4006
Telephone: +61 7 3852 4006
Fax: +61 7 3852 4446
Mobile: 0413 118182
email: stephen@therapysolutions.com.au
Fiona Bogossian
Associate Professor of Midwifery
School of Nursing & Midwifery
Faculty of Health Sciences
The University of Queensland
Room 240 Edith Cavell Building
Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital
Herston QLD 4029
Telephone +61 7 3346 4853
Facsimile +61 7 3346 4851
Email: f.bogossian@uq.edu.au