The importance of partnership in chronic pain - co-creation of tomorrow's pain care by working together in research, implementation, and knowledge dissemination

Front Pain Res (Lausanne). 2026 Mar 9;7:1765233. doi: 10.3389/fpain.2026.1765233. eCollection 2026.

ABSTRACT

Chronic pain is a long-term condition that affects the daily lives, identities, and well-being of millions of people worldwide. Effective pain care remains limited. Moreover, lack of knowledge and awareness among healthcare professionals and patients, combined with the invisibility of pain, often leads to disbelief, delayed diagnosis, prolonged suffering, and significant societal costs. Novel approaches are necessary to improve pain care, as most countries' healthcare systems are struggling to provide adequate support for persons living with chronic pain. This article highlights the importance of partnership in chronic pain management. We present examples from Sweden that demonstrate the benefits of stakeholder collaboration to improve pain care. Partnership between patients and healthcare professionals is a core element of person-centered care (PCC). We present PCC as a necessary strategy that combines ethical commitment with demonstrable clinical and economic benefits. We highlight the unique value of patient and public involvement (PPI) in pain research and innovation, where patients with lived experience can help researchers identify deficiencies in pain care and service provision, formulate relevant research questions, and develop projects that address real needs and priorities. Finally, we provide concrete examples of successful cooperation between patients, healthcare professionals, patient associations, and researchers in raising awareness of chronic pain and translating research findings into clinical practice. Collaboration among healthcare professionals, patient associations, and researchers is essential to make the best use of knowledge and lived experience to co-create and implement effective pain care, advance research, and raise awareness of chronic pain in healthcare and society.

PMID:41878118 | PMC:PMC13006614 | DOI:10.3389/fpain.2026.1765233