Painless Lifestyle Network - Applications in Cancer & Musculoskeletal Pain

Chronic pain is a widespread issue globally, causing significant disability and imposing huge costs on society. It's a major challenge for scientists, doctors, and those living with it. Research suggests that lifestyle factors like physical activity, stress, sleep quality, diet, and smoking can affect the severity of chronic pain across different age groups. The Painless Lifestyle Network, as proposed here, brings together experts from VUB/UZB specializing in chronic pain and lifestyle. This collaboration aims to make a real difference by combining scientific knowledge with practical actions. The network involves various departments and research groups, ensuring a comprehensive approach. One key goal is to take scientific findings and make them useful for patients with musculoskeletal and cancer-related pain. This involves using established models for implementation of research findings and guidelines to ensure the implementability of effect interventions. This is all part of Work Package 1. The network will engage with a wide range of stakeholders, ensuring that study results benefit all patients, regardless of their specific condition. The strategy includes implementing these findings into ongoing and future clinical trials. Two of these trials are part of Work Package 2 and 3, and aim to assess if biopsychosocial-(tele)prehabilitation (designed in an ecologically valid way that it is immediately implementable in the Belgian healthcare context) is more clinical and cost-effective than treatment as usual for people undergoing total knee arthroplasty (work package 2) and women undergoing breast cancer surgery (work package 3) at
12 months post-surgery. Ultimately, the aim of the Painless Lifestyle Network is to shift the focus from just treating the physical aspects of pain to addressing the individual needs of each patient through tailored lifestyle interventions. This shift could lead to better outcomes and reduce the overall burden of chronic pain on individuals and society.