{"title":"Using medical storytelling to communicate problems and solutions in the low back pain conundrum: an evidence-based tale of twins.","authors":"Donald R Murphy, Brian D Justice, Jeffrey Borkan","doi":"10.1186/s12998-023-00499-9","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Low back pain (LBP) is the number one cause of disability world-wide. It is also the most expensive area in healthcare. Patient-centered innovations are needed. This paper uses medical storytelling to illustrate the common problems that often lead to unnecessary suffering for patients, and costs to society. We present innovative solutions, including narrative interventions.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We use medical storytelling to present a scenario in which hypothetical twin patients with identical LBP episodes enter the healthcare system, with one twin managed in an appropriate manner, and the other inappropriately.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>One twin becomes a chronic LBP sufferer, while the other experiences quick resolution, despite identical conditions. Recommendations are made to de-implement inappropriate action and to implement a more productive approach.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Many patients with LBP descend into chronic pain. This is rarely inevitable based on clinical factors. Much of chronic LBP results from how the condition is handled within the healthcare system. Medical narrative may be one innovation to illustrate the problem of current LBP management, recommend solutions and foster changes in clinical behavior.</p><p><strong>Practical implications: </strong>The starkly different outcomes for each identical twin are illustrated. Recommendations are made for reframing the situation to de-implement the inappropriate and to implement a more appropriate approach.</p>","PeriodicalId":48572,"journal":{"name":"Chiropractic & Manual Therapies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10410981/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Chiropractic & Manual Therapies","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12998-023-00499-9","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"REHABILITATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objectives: Low back pain (LBP) is the number one cause of disability world-wide. It is also the most expensive area in healthcare. Patient-centered innovations are needed. This paper uses medical storytelling to illustrate the common problems that often lead to unnecessary suffering for patients, and costs to society. We present innovative solutions, including narrative interventions.
Methods: We use medical storytelling to present a scenario in which hypothetical twin patients with identical LBP episodes enter the healthcare system, with one twin managed in an appropriate manner, and the other inappropriately.
Results: One twin becomes a chronic LBP sufferer, while the other experiences quick resolution, despite identical conditions. Recommendations are made to de-implement inappropriate action and to implement a more productive approach.
Conclusions: Many patients with LBP descend into chronic pain. This is rarely inevitable based on clinical factors. Much of chronic LBP results from how the condition is handled within the healthcare system. Medical narrative may be one innovation to illustrate the problem of current LBP management, recommend solutions and foster changes in clinical behavior.
Practical implications: The starkly different outcomes for each identical twin are illustrated. Recommendations are made for reframing the situation to de-implement the inappropriate and to implement a more appropriate approach.
期刊介绍:
Chiropractic & Manual Therapies publishes manuscripts on all aspects of evidence-based information that is clinically relevant to chiropractors, manual therapists and related health care professionals.
Chiropractic & Manual Therapies is an open access journal that aims to provide chiropractors, manual therapists and related health professionals with clinically relevant, evidence-based information. Chiropractic and other manual therapies share a relatively broad diagnostic practice and treatment scope, emphasizing the structure and function of the body''s musculoskeletal framework (especially the spine). The practices of chiropractic and manual therapies are closely associated with treatments including manipulation, which is a key intervention. The range of services provided can also include massage, mobilisation, physical therapies, dry needling, lifestyle and dietary counselling, plus a variety of other associated therapeutic and rehabilitation approaches.
Chiropractic & Manual Therapies continues to serve as a critical resource in this field, and as an open access publication, is more readily available to practitioners, researchers and clinicians worldwide.