Pain education for children with cerebral palsy (CP)

Project status: Active

Research area: Clinical Sciences > Neurodisability and Rehabilitation

Innovative pain education intervention

We will co-create an innovative pain education intervention for children with cerebral palsy and chronic pain by partnering with people with lived experience of cerebral palsy.

The challenge

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common physical disability of childhood. Research shows that three out of four children with cerebral palsy experience pain, with most of that being chronic pain.

Until recently, chronic pain has been under identified, poorly assessed, and therefore inadequately managed for children and young people with cerebral palsy.

Our research group has made considerable gains in the identification and assessment of chronic pain in children and young people with cerebral palsy, particularly for those with diverse communication and cognitive abilities. However, there is extremely limited evidence for effective management of chronic pain in this population.

Our approach

Partnering with children and young people with cerebral palsy and their families.

A person's understanding of chronic pain and the impact it has on their everyday activities is the important first step to effective management.

We are partnering with people with lived experience of cerebral palsy, and health education specialists, to co-create an innovative chronic pain intervention for children aged five to 12 years.

Our research team includes clinicians, researchers and people with lived experience of cerebral palsy. We will partner with people with lived experience through all stages of this project.

We understand that this is extremely important to make sure that our end product is feasible, meaningful and accessible for children with cerebral palsy and their families.

Our research goals

This project is the first step in a large program of research to develop effective interventions to manage chronic pain in children and young people with cerebral palsy.

With your help, we aim to develop this program and improve the lives of children with cerebral palsy and their families through innovative and impactful research.

Cooper's cerebral palsy advocacy

Watch how Cooper is supporting research at Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), including a project to improve pain education for children with cerebral palsy.

Information for participants

Participants in this research will include:

Young children with cerebral palsy and their caregivers
Young people with cerebral palsy who experienced chronic pain in childhood and adolescence.

Participants will be involved in focus groups or one on one interviews to give their views on what they think should be included in pain education and how to make it accessible and fun for children.