Physiotherapists will be recruited using the following inclusion criteria: (1) two years of experience in treating patients with chronic pain, (2) currently working in an MSK outpatient clinic and (3) able to read and speak English to a level allowing satisfactory completion of the study procedures. There are no exclusion criterium. Potential participants will be recruited through the relevant gatekeeper. The gatekeeper will be responsible of forwarding the participant information sheet and consent form to the physiotherapists. Physiotherapists will be asked to demonstrate their interest by replying to the email. Any questions will be answered by the research team via email or phone.

The Pain Navigator Tool (PNT) was developed recently with the aim to empower patients through helping them to discuss their main concerns about pain, and to help therapists to prioritise addressing these concerns (Blomkvist et al., 2018). The initial pilot study with this tool improved the content of the consultations and patient engagement, and led to better patient-therapist interaction in a small population of healthcare providers and patients (Blomkvist et al., 2018). As it endeavours to facilitate the implementation of self-management in patients with chronic pain, the PNT aligns with the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guideline for chronic pain and the Scottish Government's strategic vision (Scottish Government, 2011; SIGN, 2013).

Semi-structured interviews with the participating physiotherapists will explore the experience using the PNT.

The HC-PAIRS is selected to assess the pain-related attitudes and beliefs of physiotherapists. It is a validated tool with adequate psychometric properties and has already been used in the selected population. It measures attitudes and beliefs on a scale of 13 to 91 with higher scores on this scale indicating stronger beliefs that LBP validates disability.

The PSEQ is selected to capture the patients' levels of confidence in carrying out day-to-day tasks despite the presence of pain. It assesses the confidence of people with any type of chronic pain in activity despite pain. It covers enjoying activities, household daily activities, social life, coping in general, work, leisure activities, coping with pain without medication, accomplishing goals, living a normal lifestyle, and becoming more active, all 'despite pain'. Each is rated on a 7 point scale from 0 = not at all confident to 6 = completely confident. The total score, ranging from 0 to 60, is calculated by adding the scores for each item. Higher scores reflect stronger self-efficacy beliefs.

The PUnCQ is a two-part questionnaire assessing students' knowledge and understanding of pain alongside their confidence in applying this understanding. The questionnaire consists of a chronic pain case vignette, with the first set of questions consisting of a 12-item multiple choice questionnaire, assessing knowledge and understanding in the context of the vignette. The second part of the tool is a 21-item Likert scale ranging from "not at all confident" (0) to "no problem!" (10), with a higher score indicating a higher self-perceived confidence in applying this understanding. Correct answers in the Understanding section were awarded a score of 1, and incorrect a score of 0, with a total accumulated to give a score for each participant.