WHAT PEOPLE SAY
DAVID
The app provides clear tracking of my symptoms and aspects of my life which matter to me.
JOAN
The app makes me focus on pacing all physical and mental activities to avoid worsening of M.E. symptoms.
RACHEL
The app enables me to make better informed decisions which subsequently helps me to achieve better symptom control.
"Having spoken to patients regarding their struggle with the drawn out and restrictive paper pain diaries, I have found the TIYGA Pain Clinic App to be a very useful tool allowing patients to track and manage their journey in an efficient manner. Particularly for those who like keeping records or diaries, I think this is a great way to monitor any changes or triggers in pain and can be a great help to both patients and healthcare professionals especially with waiting lists for face-to-face appointments."
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James Harrison, Reception Manager,
GP Practice, Belfast
"We can tailor the apps to suit the needs of our patients - but also to give the Consultants a heads-up on the recent history of the problem."
Dr Janine O'Kane, GP Partner, Belfast
This app (TIYGA Pain Clinic) has lots of potential for use in therapy with patients, not (just) for pain, but for a variety of variables. Example: helpful for people with Parkinson's Disorder who are working on speech production. I need them to closely monitor through the day (1) if they are using a speech technique which is the basis of their therapy and (2) how well they are doing in these areas. This is critical for them "taking ownership" of therapy and for improving their self-assessment of speech.
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Danielle Morgan, Cognitive Speech /Therapy with Acquired Brain Injury, Specialist in Concussion and Parkinson's Disease Rehabilitation, Massachussetts
With over two decades experience as a Consultant in Pain Medicine, I appreciate that therapeutic success is only achieved when the patient is fully engaged in managing their own pain. For many chronic pain is a daily experience, yet the amount of time spent with their GP, Consultant or other healthcare professional is very limited. The ability to record pain, activity, sleep mood and side effects is a significant aid to communication. Furthermore, it can motivate patients to stay on track with their self-management goal;s by providing a simple way of tracking their improvement and identifying barriers to progress. "
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Dr Pamela Bell, Chair Pain Alliance of NI
"The app was very easy to use and I would definitely use it on a permanent basis if it were available. I have been keeping my own pain diary for some time and found the "dial" system of processing pain more useful than assigning a number. Many patients with chronic pain do not get to see their doctors very often. so self management is vital. By accessing the tracking of pain levels over certain periods, a week or a month, the user would be able to identify patterns themselves and try to accommodate those in between hospital appointments."
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App user via Pain Alliance of NI
"I thought more about what I was doing to cause them (aches and pains), and what I could do differently to minimise them"
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"Useful tool during initial diagnosis of a condition, also helpful while experimenting with new medications to find an appropriate means of pain control"
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"I wish I had this during and prior to my initial diagnosis and while the doctors were trying to sort out appropriate medications and treatment"
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App users via CLASH 2012, Arthritis Support Group
"It couldn't be more user friendly, totally easy and quick to use, which for me is vital as life is so busy, so to encourage people to participate in the app I think it should be as quick and easy to use as possibleso it won't seem onerous. Is the idea that you use it daily, a reportwould be produced to show patterns/trends at different times of the month i.e. to compare month on month. That for me would be really interesting - for example every month my pain is less in the week before my period, therefore indicating there might be a hormonal link (but no one has explored that so far). If it could be proved that this is the same for many patients, then surely a hormonal study of what happens in that week would be useful to see if hormones could be given to replicate that "good week" every week!"
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App user via Pelvic Pain Support Network