ESCAPE Pain wins Self Care Innovation Award

ESCAPE-pain (Enabling Self-management and Coping with Arthritic Pain using Exercise), is designed for those with chronic osteoarthritis of the knee or hip, or with lower back pain.

It combines education about self-management and coping strategies with an exercise regime tailored to suit the needs of each participant.

Originally developed in London by Professor Mike Hurley, it has since been adopted by the Health Innovation Network and is now run by Orthopaedic Research UK. It is delivered by specially-trained facilitators in over 300 locations including hospital outpatient departments, gyms and community halls. It has been used by around 20,000 people and is estimated to have saved some £30 million in health and social care costs.

Announcing ESCAPE-pain as the winner of this year’s Self Care Innovation Award in the run-up to Self Care Week, which begins on 15 November, Self Care Forum Chair Helen Donovan said: “The ESCAPE-pain programme is an effective, scalable way to support people to self-manage osteoarthritis of the knee or hip, or lower back pain. The judges were hugely impressed both by its achievements and by its potential to help people tackle this hugely debilitating condition; we hope it continues to expand as a valuable self care tool for those living with musculoskeletal pain.”

Self Care Forum President, Dr Pete Smith added “Musculoskeletal pain affects millions of people in the UK and can be intensely debilitating.

“It accounts for 20-30% of all GP consultations, second only to minor ailments such as colds and coughs and leads to an enormous number of lost working days.”