Pain in early life (pearl) – a network for pain research and education

• BackgroundSmall children are especially vulnerable to the deleterious effects of pain. High quality research is needed to protect young children from the negative effects of pain. Previously pediatric pain research in the Nordic region was severely limited; hampered by small samples and small-scale, time-consuming studies carried out by a few dedicated researchers. The similarities across the Nordic countries, concerning population composition, healthcare systems, and culture, made it reasonable to join forces for advances in child pain research and evidence-based practice. Methods In 2014, a group of Nordic researchers from the field of pain in early life gathered for a workshop in Örebro, Sweden. The participants knew each other from conferences or participation in common projects. Several were also collaborators, trainees, or alumni in the Canadian Pain in Child Health (PICH) network. The group decided to form a new network with the vision: To be a stable and competent research and training network within the area of pain in early life. The network was named PEARL – Pain in EARly Life. Three areas of work were defined: to provide parents with evidence-based information on pain relieving strategies, to provide healthcare professionals with evidence-based tools for the management of pain, and to perform collaborative research. Results Since then, PEARL has held yearly lecture days about pain in early life in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark and thereby reached hundreds of clinicians. The meeting in Denmark was organized together with PICH as a PICH2Go-event with participants from 13 countries around the world. Four trainees have been awarded their PhD-degree, three members have become associate professors and two have become full professors. In all, 24 persons from the Nordic countries, Poland and Canada are members of PEARL. In the past 5 years, researchers from PEARL have published 94 papers about pain and stress (Fig 1). In a collaborative project, the pain assessment scale PIPP-R has been translated and culturally adapted for four Nordic languages. PEARL has established a website in six languages, with sections for parents, professionals and researchers: www.pearl.direct.Conclusion In five years, PEARL has had significant impact in pediatric pain research and attracted new collaborators and students. Moving forward, PEARL will focus on increasing its collaboration with other research groups. We will also make an effort to strengthen and develop parent partnerships and collaboration to ensure the best research and care possible for vulnerable small children. 

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Omvårdnad (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Nursing (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Pain

Newborn infant

Children

Caring sciences

Omvårdnadsvetenskap

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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