title: Preventing Chronic Pain: A Human Systems Approach-Results From a Massive Open Online Course.
abstract: Chronic pain conditions are the top reason patients seek care, the most common reason for disability and addiction, and the biggest driver of healthcare costs; their treatment costs more than cancer, heart disease, dementia, and diabetes care. The personal impact in terms of suffering, disability, depression, suicide, and other problems is incalculable. There has been much effort to prevent many medical and dental conditions, but little effort has been directed toward preventing chronic pain. To address this deficit, a massive open online course (MOOC) was developed for students and healthcare professionals. "Preventing Chronic Pain: A Human Systems Approach" was offered by the University of Minnesota through the online platform Coursera. The first offering of this free open course was in the spring of 2014 and had 23 650 participants; 53% were patients or consumers interested in pain. This article describes the course concepts in preventing chronic pain, the analytic data from course participants, and postcourse evaluation forms.
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, HealthPartners Institute for Education and Research, Minnesota Head and Neck Pain Clinic, St Paul, International Myopain Society, Nine Mile Falls, Washington, United States (Dr Fricton).
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fricton
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States (Dr Anderson).
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: HealthPartners Institute for Education and Research, Minnesota Head and Neck Pain Clinic, St Paul, United States (Dr Clavel).
authors.forename: Alfred
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Clavel
authors.affiliation: Statistical Analysis, Edina, Minnesota, United States (Ms Fricton).
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fricton
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota School of Professional Psychology, Minneapolis, St Catherine University, Minneapolis, United States (Dr Hathaway).
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hathaway
authors.affiliation: Bioinformatics, Education Management, University of Chicago, Illinois, United States (Mr Kang).
authors.forename: Wenjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles, United States (Dr Jaeger).
authors.forename: Bernadette
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jaeger
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States (Dr Maixner).
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Maixner
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States (Pesut).
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pesut
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Clinical Immunology, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas, United States (Dr Russell).
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.affiliation: Minnesota Head and Neck Pain Clinic, St Paul, United States (Dr Weisberg).
authors.forename: Mark B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Weisberg
authors.affiliation: HealthPartners Institute for Education and Research, United States (Dr Whitebird).
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Whitebird
keywords: Chronic pain; MOOC; massive open online course; online education; pain