Pain Cafes in Cornwall

You can learn to live well with pain.

Medication isn't the only way to manage persistent pain. Scientific evidence suggests that people with pain can have more rewarding lives if they learn particular skills. Working with world leading expert Dr Frances Cole, the Chronic Pain in Cornwall team are creating a network of Pain Cafés across Cornwall to support you in your journey to a better quality of life.

Chronic pain in Cornwall is a group of people who are passionate about improving the lives of people who live with pain. We comprise of an expert patient with lived experience Sean Jennings, a GP Dr Jim Huddy, Debbie O’Nyons lead for personalised care in Cornwall, Nikki Kelly and Kevin Feaviour of Imagine If community connect and Dr Keith Mitchell pain consultant at Royal Cornwall Hospital.

After spending a few years educating GPs about the dangers of high dose opioid prescribing the CPIC team are now working to raise awareness and availability of non-medical strategies for people with pain.

Right now we are training two or three champions from each of Cornwall’s primary care networks in Dr Frances Cole’s “10 footsteps to living well with pain” which you can access on our home page. Frances is a retired GP who is nationally and internationally renowned for her work in the self management of pain. We are very grateful to her for her experience and generosity.

We are also thankful to the funding from the Queens Nursing Institute, Exeter University and NHS Cornwall without whom this could not happen. This has allowed us to create fantastic digital support to our work with Tango3 Ltd.

We hope for a future in Cornwall where people with pain can easily access support groups near to them and feel less alone and have more fun and activity in their lives.

You can find out more about Pain Cafés near you by going to our what's on - pain cafes page.

Sean Jennings, Expert Patient

I’m 62 years old from Cornwall, and a former mechanical engineer. When I was 32 I had what I thought was a routine hernia operation. Unfortunately from that day I have suffered chronic pain and prescribed ever Increasing opioids, gabapentin and antidepressants, for the next 25 years. I am now 5 years medication free thanks to distraction and mindfulness techniques along with exercise/movement to manage my pain. I have used the last 5 years to tell my story to clinicians and patients advocating SKILLS NOT PILLS.