Pain Self-Management

A person-centred approach to living with chronic pain in which the individual takes an active role in managing their own condition through daily coping strategies, behavioural adaptations, and use of support resources, rather than relying solely on clinical interventions. Pain self-management encompasses physical strategies (exercise, pacing), psychological strategies (distraction, cognitive reframing), social strategies (peer support, communication), and use of technologies such as mobile apps and wearable devices. For accessibility practitioners, the self-management paradigm highlights that effective chronic pain technology must support individual agency, adapt to unpredictable pain fluctuations, and integrate into the rhythms of daily life rather than imposing clinical structures.