Teaching people in the German-Dutch border region how they can prevent chronic pain wherever possible and how to better treat pain patients who are already affected - these are the aims of the new project "Pain in the Ems-Dollart region: a hidden disease with far-reaching consequences" organised by University Medicine Oldenburg and the University of Groningen (Netherlands). Funded by the EU Interreg VI A Germany-Netherlands programme, German and Dutch scientists and doctors from both countries are planning several projects to address different target groups - from primary school children to shipyard employees.
"We are delighted that we can directly improve the healthcare services for people in the Ems-Dollard region with this cross-border project," says health economist Prof Dr Lars Schwettmann. He conducts research at the Department of Health Services Research at the University of Oldenburg and at the Cross-Border Institute of Healthcare Systems and Prevention (CBI), which was founded jointly by the Universities of Oldenburg and Groningen and specialises in cross-border research in the healthcare sector. Schwettmann is investigating how the measures planned as part of the project will affect the health situation in the region.
Two important parts of the project are being coordinated from Oldenburg, including a major prevention project. "Our aim is to use a bilingual media campaign to educate people in the region about how they can best deal with pain," explains Dr Peter Sörös, from the Department of Neurology in the Department for Human Medicine. The misconception that rest and taking it easy are always the right measures for pain shows just how widespread misconceptions are. "Movement is important, especially to prevent pain from becoming chronic," says Sörös.
Together with the Oldenburg agency BOHMerang, the team is planning a multi-year prevention campaign focussing on social media channels. Among other things, the participants want to address specific target groups individually with the help of influencers - including athletes. "The use of anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen is on the rise among athletes. However, many do not realise that long-term, uncontrolled use can also lead to kidney damage," says Sörös, citing one example of a problematic approach to pain. The researchers also want to make direct contact with this target group via clubs and train coaches on the subject of pain, for example. Another target group is children in primary schools, who should learn in PE lessons what functions pain has - and when exercise can be useful despite pain. The team also wants to address people who carry out physically strenuous work, for example in the region's shipyards, with special preventative measures.
Another sub-project, carried out by the University Outpatient Clinic for Pain Therapy at the University Clinic for Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine/Emergency Medicine/Pain Therapy at Oldenburg Hospital, is aimed at medical professionals. Under the leadership of pain physician Dr Dr Carsten Bantel, the team develops pain training programmes. The aim is to teach healthcare professionals how to educate people about pain, how to treat sufferers and how to help them live with chronic pain. Specialists from general medicine, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nursing and psychology on both sides of the border should benefit from this programme just as much as medical students.
One of the aims of the Dutch-led sub-projects is to enable German pain patients to receive treatment at the Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen as an example. The university hospital in Groningen offers a highly specialised intervention designed to reduce pain in palliative patients for whom even morphine has no effect. As part of the Interreg project, the participants also want to analyse the network of pain specialists in the Ems-Dollart region and develop a patient tracking system that allows them to track which medical services patients accept and with what result.
The project will run until the end of 2027 and University Medicine Oldenburg will receive a total of 460,000 euros in funding.
