What are the current challenges of managing cancer pain and could digital technologies help?

ABSTRACT\ud Objectives Pain remains a problem for people\ud with cancer despite effective treatments being\ud available. We aimed to explore current pain\ud management strategies used by patients,caregivers and professionals and to investigate\ud opportunities for digital technologies to\ud enhance cancer pain management.\ud Methods A qualitative study comprising\ud semistructured interviews and focus groups.\ud Patients with cancer pain, their caregivers and\ud health professionals from Northeast Scotland\ud were recruited from a purposive sample of\ud general practices. Professionals were recruited\ud from regional networks.\ud Results Fifty one participants took part in 33\ud interviews (eight patients alone, six patient/\ud caregiver dyads and 19 professionals) and\ud two focus groups (12 professionals). Living\ud with cancer was hard work for patients and\ud caregivers and comparable to a ‘full-time\ud job’. Patients had personal goals which\ud involved controlling pain intensity and\ud balancing this with analgesic use, side effects,\ud overall symptom burden and social/physical\ud activities. Digital technologies were embraced\ud by most patients, and made living life with\ud advanced cancer easier and richer (eg, video\ud calls with family). Technology was underutilised\ud for pain and symptom management. There\ud were suggestions that technology could\ud support self-monitoring and communicating\ud problems to professionals, but patients\ud and professionals were concerned about\ud technological monitoring adding to the work\ud of managing illness.\ud Conclusions Cancer pain management takes\ud place in the context of multiple, sometimes\ud competing personal goals. It is possible that\ud technology could be used to help patients share\ud individual symptom experiences and goals, thus\ud enhancing tailored care. The challenge is for digital\ud solutions to add value without adding undue\ud burden