• Marie C Haverfield, Karleen Giannitrapani, Christine Timko, and Karl Lorenz.
• Veteran Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Center for Innovation to Implementation (Ci2i), 152-MPD, 795 Willow Road, Menlo Park, California, 94025, USA. mch83@stanford.edu.
• J Gen Intern Med. 2018 Aug 1; 33 (8): 137413801374-1380.

BackgroundPain management discussions between patient and provider can be stressful to navigate and greatly impact the care received. Because of the complexity, emotional color, and sensitivity of pain management, such discussions require a high degree of skill.ObjectiveTo identify patients' perspectives of patient-centered care communication within the context of pain management discussions.DesignWe conducted semi-structured interviews (25-65 min) with patients regarding their experiences with pain assessment and management.Participants36 patients (29 males, 7 females), from 3 Veteran Affairs healthcare locations. Participant age ranged from 28 to 94 with pain intensity ranging from 0 to 10, based on the "pain now" numeric rating scale report gathered at the time of the interview.ApproachInterview transcript analysis was conducted using the constant comparison method to produce mutually agreed upon themes.Key ResultsElements of patient-centered care communication described by participants include judgment, openness, listening, trust, preferences, solution-oriented, customization, and longevity. Patients perceive provider reciprocation in openness and trust as drivers of the patient-provider relationship, thereby enhancing positive, associated themes.ConclusionsFindings highlight the importance of the patient-provider relationship in patient-centered care and offer patient-centered care communication tools for practitioners to utilize, such as solution-oriented messages and communicating trust, especially when interacting with patients about pain.

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