The goals of this study are

• To define what the public perceptions of persistent pain using a national survey
• Explore relationships between the reported pubic beliefs and demographic factors collected.
• To evaluate the impact of a public health campaign to increase awareness of persistent pain and develop understanding of pain that aligns with contemporary science.

This study included a cross sectional survey of the UK population to understand what the beliefs are regarding persistent pain. This survey will be distributed electronically using social media and to a Scottish council. Differences in beliefs will be explored using the demographic data collected.

The second aspect of the study is the evaluation of a public health campaign called 'Flippin Pain'. This study component included the evaluation of online webinars with pre, post, 3 month, 6 month and 12 month longitudinal data collection. One of the online seminars also included the qualitative evaluation using semi structured interviews.

The third part of the study was the evaluation of a community outreach tour in the county of Lincolnshire, United Kingdom. This included the collection of pain belief data before an in person seminar, immediately afterwards, then at 3 months. Semi structured interviews were also conducted with participants who attended the webinars. As part of the outreach tour an interactive pop up tent gave members of the public an understanding of pain using practical demonstrations. The was evaluated using short semi structured interviews along with written summaries offered by the participants before and immediately after experiencing the practical demonstrations.

After the community outreach tour, two focus groups were conducted with the campaign volunteers with an aim to understand the experience of those involved. The focus groups asked the participants to reflect on the successes and challenges of delivering a community based public health outreach tour.

Inclusion Criteria:

• UK cross sectional survey - All adults over the age of 18 who are the capable of offering informed consent)
• Online webinar study - Adults over the age of 18 who attend an online webinar related to persistent pain
• Community outreach tour seminar - Adults over the age of 18 who attend an in person seminar
• Brain Bus - Adults over the age of 18 who experience the interactive demonstrations relating to persistent pain
• Focus Groups - Volunteers who participated in the Flippin Pain community outreach tour within the county of Lincolnshire

Exclusion Criteria:

• Individuals younger than 18 years of age.
• For the cross sectional UK survey, adults who lived outside of the UK were excluded.

Cross sectional survey - Adults over the age of 18 that respond to an electronic survey link posted on FaceBook groups and employees of a Scottish council.

Webinars and Seminars - Individuals who attended an education webinar or seminar related to persistent pain.

Brain Bus - Individuals who engaged in the interactive experience to learn about persistent pain.

Focus Groups - A total of 20 volunteers who supported the community outreach tour in the English county of Lincolnshire.

Anonymised data may be shared from the survey responses.

When the evaluation is completed and submitted to a peer review journal. Estimated 2024.

Additional data beyond what is included in the results section of the manuscript can be made available within the supplementary files.