Pain management for children with cerebral palsy in school settings

For children with cerebral palsy (CP), the school environment can be a challenge, as their pain can affect concentration. They may also have difficulty expressing their pain in words. Staff therefore need to know how to manage these children's pain to ensure that they can participate fully in school activities despite their pain. It is unclear whether they are able to do this and whether there are differences between cultures. The aim of the project was to investigate how staff manage pain in children with CP in school settings in South Africa and Sweden. Three focus groups in each country were conducted with teachers, assistants and health care professionals who had recent contact with a child with cerebral palsy experiencing pain in mainstream or special schools. Qualitative content analysis was used and the results from the different cultures were compared. The results are presented as four separate studies.