What arthritis pain practitioners and patients want in an online self-management programme

Objective: Self‐management of pain is a critical component of arthritis care; however, limited mobility can restrict access to resources. Although the internet has become a primary source of health information, few studies address what patients want and need from a self‐management website. Methods: Thirty‐two people diagnosed with arthritis and 12 practitioners a) participated in individual one‐hour interviews and b) sorted and rated a list of 88 unique statements that were derived from the interviews. Qualitative data were analysed using concept mapping procedures. Results: The six‐cluster map provided the best discrimination between statements. Follow‐up analyses suggested that although patients with arthritis and practitioners generally agree on the categories of content on a self‐management website about arthritis, they appear to disagree on the importance of each category. Conclusions: These findings about patient and provider desired content can be used by health educators to develop a curriculum for health education of patients with arthritis pain. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.