Educating and engaging a new target audience about the problem of pain for society.

Pain education initiatives are typically targeted at health professionals, with less attention being placed on the education of other target audiences. Recent curriculum changes across undergraduate liberal studies degree programs at The University of Sydney presented an opportunity to develop an online course entitled Health Challenges: Pain and Society, which was aimed at a non-traditional target audience. To promote student engagement about the problem of pain for society, the course was designed using the Community of Inquiry framework.

No gain without pain education: Improving knowledge and biopsychosocial attitudes and beliefs in a predominantly non-health-related undergraduate target audience.

Objectives: Chronic pain (CP) impacts individuals and society and is the leading cause of disability globally. Pain education interventions are often evaluated in patients and health professional students, but not in non-health student groups. Increasing knowledge of pain may facilitate shifts in attitudes and beliefs towards sufferers.

Reducing the distance: providing challenging and engaging online postgraduate education in pain management.

1. Health professionals need access to flexible, high-quality, advanced education in pain management. 2.

Joining forces: collaborating internationally to deliver high-quality, online postgraduate education in pain management.

The effective management of pain is a complex and costly global issue, requiring a range of innovative educational strategies to enable culturally appropriate and high-quality health care provision. In response to this issue, the Pain Management Research Institute at the University of Sydney (Sydney, Australia) has established several strategic alliances with other overseas universities to deliver online postgraduate education in pain management. The present article discusses the rationale for joining forces, and the approach adopted in creating and maintaining these alliances.