Mixed-method approach to veteran satisfaction with pain education

Patient education is a central component in high-quality integrated care of patients with chronic pain. The current study assessed patients' satisfaction with a 12 wk "Pain Education School" program within the initial 2 yr phase of implementation. A mixed-method treatment outcome design was used. A sample of 219 veterans between November 6, 2009, and January 20, 2012, was evaluated. Quantitative findings suggest that patients reported learning "new and useful" information (mean = 4.62 +/- 0.82), perceived the program as "easy to understand" (4.62 +/- 0.70), used the learned information (4.58 +/- 0.77), and recommended the program to others (4.71 +/- 0.74). Four thematic maps emerged from the qualitative data. Response percentages were calculated in order to illustrate the relative magnitude of emerging themes and sub-themes corresponding to participant extracts.