12 November 2024

Pain: Equality of Care and Support in the Community (PEACS) is a project delivered in partnership between the KHP Mind & Body Programme, Thriving Stockwell, and Stockwellbeing Primary Care Network.

The project provides holistic, biopsychosocial care to support people living with chronic pain — particularly those from Black backgrounds who experience a number of health inequalities, poorer health outcomes, and greater barriers to care compared to white people.

PEACS is delivered through a series of lifestyle medicine intervention workshops that cover everything from nutrition to emotional wellbeing and relationships. The project aims to equip patients with the skills and knowledge to help them better manage their chronic pain.

The project partnered with Art4Space, a local charity that supports recovery through creative writing and arts. Art4Space aims to be south London’s ‘foremost arts centre for mental health and wellbeing support’ and work with the NHS to provide supported therapeutic sessions with a range of art materials. A participant of the PEACS project shared how these weekly sessions — cofacilitated with Art4Space — have helped them:

PEACS and Art4space really helped me because I’m literally living by the day. I went to church Sunday I came home with £35 and because of Art4space I made £70, I do my bracelets, I do my necklace, that I learned to do here and now I’m selling, I’m making money. So, it’s really helped me.

Misha Gardner, PEACS project manager, shared more about this unique partnership:

Why did PEACS choose to partner with Art4Space?

We started working with Art4Space as a way of building better partnerships with our community, but then it evolved into a thriving peer support network. The emphasis has become much more about connection, and we’ve seen patients develop genuine friendships.

Being with people who have a shared experience helps patients to feel seen and connected, whilst living with a condition that is so unseen, so invisible, and so misunderstood. Working with Art4Space has also allowed us to leverage some of the more creative and therapeutic ways of supporting patients with chronic pain.

A participant told us:

Sometimes you just need someone to listen to what you’re saying and that’s what the PEACS project is exemplary with. They listen, and a lot of us haven’t had people listen to us or believe us because they just assume pain looks a particular way. And what does pain look like? That’s what they need to keep on asking.

What's been the greatest benefit for patients?

Art4Space enabled us to provide support beyond the PEACS pathway. Due to limited funding the project is unable to provide that continued space for people who want to meet over and over again. Moving some of the workshops into the community, and building partnerships with local voluntary, community and social enterprises enables us to improve access for patients to more ongoing support, particularly in a more sustainable way.

One of the more unforeseen benefits that came out of the PEACS partnership with Art4Space was the peer support network that developed organically amongst the attendees. Art4Space helps us bring people living with chronic pain together and uses different forms of art as a catalyst for positive change. Their offer balances out the learning and psycho-educational side of the project - making the experience more appealing for some of our patients.

In a feedback session one participant said:

Coming to Art4space, it made such a difference because now somebody else in the room understands what I’m going through, and we understand each other, and we are there for each other.

Another participant said:

I am so pleased I came because I think I was isolating myself… I think things like this really help. We talk about everything and anything which is so pleasing. Yes, we talk about our condition but on the whole, we do things together and we’re a lovely group. I think meeting people has been more valuable than the education. The most valuable thing for me was to meet other people in similar situations.  

What did you learn working with Art4Space?

We are striving to improve patient experience, access, and to achieve better health outcomes for marginalised groups. We're addressing health inequalities, but we do it in very different ways. Community charities like Art4Space work with individuals, they don’t work with ‘conditions’ in the traditional sense and I think what they do is very authentic.

They are able to more proactively respond to patient’s needs, and I think sometimes institutions like the NHS can become bound by certain out-dated structures and processes that don’t always allow for this type of personalised care. There is a lot we can learn from this type of patient-led care.

What are your hopes for patients after PEACS?

Well, I have many positive hopes and best wishes for this wonderful group, and for all the patients who have participated in the PEACS programme! I'd like to see an improved quality of life for all, and that they continue to better utilise local healthcare and voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) support.  For the ‘family’ as they call themselves at Art4Space, I’d like to see them continue to meet, making time for the friendships they've made and supporting each other whilst they continue to navigate life with chronic pain.

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