Partnerships ease children’s pain in the classroom

As a clinical physiotherapist at the Queensland Children’s Hospital, Dr Rebecca Fechner works as part of a team who help the one-in-five children who experience chronic pain – at home, in the community and when they’re at school.

“There’s probably five or six kids in every classroom across the country who are living with chronic pain but their pain can sometimes go unnoticed,” she says.

Looking to explore this vital issue, Rebecca took a turn in her professional career which had spanned more than two decades. Four years ago, she started a PhD with UTS paediatric pain researcher Dr Joshua Pate.

Rebecca’s research has focused on bridging the gap between health and education for paediatric chronic pain – learning how pain is communicated, modelled and responded to in schools.

“In the health system, we’re generally unaware of just how much education systems are supporting children with paediatric pain. There’s a huge amount of work going on, sometimes without teachers even knowing it,” Rebecca says.

The importance of genuine partnership is something Rebecca is trying to get other health professionals to recognise and put into practice.

“I used to go in as a health professional with a focus on educating teachers about the complexity of pain, and teaching them how to support children in the classroom. Often, this added stress because I didn’t understand their practice,” she says.

“Now, I know teachers enact strategies every day that support children with learning, and these same strategies can comfort pain. The supportive relationships teachers build with their students can also have a huge positive impact on a child’s experience of pain. 

“Appreciating these strengths means I now focus on a more nuanced approach to education and collaboration aimed at reducing the burden and increasing teacher self-efficacy.”

“Teachers have a huge impact every single day – by helping their students navigate social challenges or supporting them with regulation. Once they recognise this, they realise they’re actually a part of treatment. This builds a community with a common goal of helping kids with chronic pain.”

Community relieves chronic pain

The central thesis of Rebecca’s research is that building an inclusive community is the most important, but often missing, piece of the puzzle to relieve chronic pain for children.

Her work has a starting point of pain as a social experience. Having a shared experience of what pain is – and consistency in how it’s communicated, modelled and addressed – can influence the overall level of a child’s experience.

“Between the health and education sectors, we can help create a community to destigmatise pain. That translates into not just including the kids at school but all of their friends, their families and the communities around them,” Rebecca says.