Accessibility of psychological treatments for chronic pain in low socioeconomic settings

Abstract

Chronic pain is a highly prevalent condition globally. Low-socioeonomic (SES) populations tend to have higher prevalence rates and worsened pain outcomes. Although psychological interventions for chronic pain are considered an integral aspect of chronic pain treatment, psychological treatments are often not accessible for individuals with low-SES due to barriers such as poor insurance coverage, transportation and financial issues, lack of access to pain-trained providers, and educational resources with inappropriately high literacy levels. Within recent years, there have been some advances in methods to increase accessability. In this paper, we review recent methods to enhance accessability of psychological treatments for chronic pain in low-SES settings and suggest areas for future growth.