Patterns is an SBRI-funded service which is being developed with a consortium of organisations based in Northern Ireland. It is a mobile app that allows individuals to set goals, and track various pain-related metrics. We are aiming to recruit at least 100 people throughout Northern Ireland who currently experience persistent pain, to join us in a 4-month trial of Patterns. This would be used to help us assess how useful Patterns is at helping individuals understand and self-manage their experience with Pain. If we can show benefit, we may be able to make Patterns available to individuals throughout the UK and beyond.

Patterns is an SBRI-funded service which is being developed with a consortium of organisations based in Northern Ireland. These organisations include Big Motive, the Public Health Agency, the NI Regional Pain Forum, Versus Arthritis, Queen’s University Belfast, and the Belfast Centre for Pain Rehabilitation. It is a mobile app that allows individuals to set goals, and track various pain-related metrics. It then provides various visualisations and insights regarding patterns between goals, activities, and pain experience.

We are aiming to recruit at least 100 people throughout Northern Ireland who currently experience persistent pain, to join us in a 4-month trial of Patterns. This would be used to help us assess how useful Patterns is at helping individuals understand and self-manage their experience with Pain. If we can show benefit, we may be able to make Patterns available to individuals throughout the UK and beyond.Individuals who are interested in taking part can register their interest at the project website here: https://mypatterns.co/

Get Involved

Patterns is a digital companion for people who experience chronic or persistent pain. We are inviting over 100 people in Northern Ireland to provide us with feedback on how useful the app is at helping you understand and self-manage your experience with pain.

Get involved

What is ‘Patterns’?

Patterns is a smartphone app for people who experience persistent pain. We hope that Patterns may help people better understand and self-manage their experience with pain.

It includes the ability to:

• Set and track goals
• Track your pain, mood, and activity levels
• View ‘patterns’ in your experience with pain

It is currently under development, and is available on Android and iPhone devices.

What is the Patterns study?

We are inviting over 100 people in Northern Ireland to use Patterns for 4 months.

We would like to understand if Patterns provides any benefit to people who experience persistent pain.

If we can show benefit, we may be able to make Patterns available to people throughout Northern Ireland and beyond.

What would I be expected to do?

If you were to take part, you would be asked to:

• Use Patterns for 4 months, on your own phone and in your own time.
• Set a goal once every two weeks (2 minutes)
• Complete one journal entry in the app per day (1 minute)
• Complete 3 short questionnaires about your experience (10 minutes)

Participation is completely voluntary, and you are free to stop at any time.

Who can sign up to this trial?

We would be delighted for you to take part if:

• You are aged 18 or older
• You live in Northern Ireland
• You are currently experiencing chronic or persistent pain that has lasted at least three months
• You own an Android or Apple smartphone
• You have access to a mobile phone network or Wi-Fi

Who is involved in Patterns?

Patterns is being developed in collaboration with the following organisations:

• Big Motive
• The Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
• The South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
• The Public Health Agency
• Queen’s University Belfast
• The Northern Ireland Regional Pain Forum
• Versus Arthritis Northern Ireland

What will happen to data collected during my involvement?

Your involvement in this study will be completely anonymous. We may publish research reports that include your comments but your data will be anonymised. This means your name and identity will not be linked in our research reports to anything you say or do. All data will be processed in line with GDPR requirements. The data will be used to make any necessary improvements to the design of the app, and to demonstrate any potential impact it may have on individuals’ experience of living with pain.

Are there any risks involved in taking part?

Whilst there are no direct risks associated with taking part in this study, you will be asked to set yourself goals that focus on improving quality of life, movement, socialisation, and other areas. Participants in this study will set and engage with goals of their choice, at their own risk.  It is each participant’s responsibility to ensure that goals are attempted in a safe manner. We are not responsible for any injury or loss that may occur during the study.

Discover more about Big Motive

Big Motive is an award-winning service design and innovation studio. For over a decade, we have delivered value and impact for our clients and their customers through the creation of new digital products and services. We specialise in the application of human-centred design to complex business and technology problems. Through our deeply collaborative way of working, we empower visionary teams with the skills to lead innovation. This approach unlocks culture change in the teams we work with as well as better outcomes for people, society and businesses. We work with a broad spectrum of clients; from multinational brands to high potential startups and government teams dedicated to transforming public services.