Lay summary
I am an occupational therapist specialising in hand therapy, with close to 7 years’ experience in rehabilitating people with chronic pain conditions. My primary career objective is to use my clinical knowledge, therapeutic skills, and qualitative research experience to highlight the voices of people receiving healthcare services and translate these into meaningful change. Complex Regional Pain Syndrome is a severe chronic pain condition which most commonly affects the arm and hand. It is a challenge to diagnose and treat. Delays to diagnosis and treatment have serious negative effects on prognosis and quality of life. My research uses a mixed methods approach to explore peoples’ lived experiences of the journey to diagnosis and treatment in New Zealand. I aim to provide clinicians with recommendations for a management pathway based on these, to improve timely and appropriate care which is centred on the needs and priorities of people receiving healthcare.