Enabling Self-management and Coping
with Arthritic Pain using Exercise

​ESCAPE-pain is a rehabilitation programme for people with chronic joint pain of the knees and/or hips, that integrates educational self-management and coping strategies with an exercise regimen individualised for each participant. It helps people understand their condition, teaches them simple things they can help themselves with, and takes them through a progressive exercise programme so they learn how to cope with pain better. 

Robust evaluation shows that ESCAPE-pain:

• Reduces pain
• Improves physical function
• Improves the psychosocial consequences of pain
• Reduces healthcare and utilisation costs.

Tips for supporting ESCAPE-pain participants during COVID-19 outbreak

We'd like to remind you of the availability of the ESCAPE-pain digital support tools which replicate the face-to-face programme and are free to use.

• ESCAPE-pain Online is the web-based version of the ESCAPE-pain app. It can be accessed here and viewed on a computer or a variety of mobile devices, but you don't need to have a smart phone.

• ESCAPE-pain app is available on Android smartphones and tablets by searching 'escape pain app' on Google Play

We recommend you read through our ESCAPE-pain support tools guidance which contains our top tips for getting the best out of the ESCAPE-pain support tools before deciding which one you'd prefer to use.

Both tools take the users through a six-week programme, with two sessions per week, each containing:

• Exercise videos with simple, easy to follow exercises with clear instructions that were developed so people could do the exercises safely in their homes;
• Educational videos with engaging animations giving simple advice and information to help people understand how to better manage their condition;
• Individual progress chart to track their improvement over time.​

ESCAPE-pain class locations

The ESCAPE-pain programme's 290+ sites have suspended face-to-face classes during the COVID-19 outbreak.

We look forward to working with these sites when the situation improves to get classes back up and running. We know that many sites are exploring ways of supporting their participants to remain active during this period.

If you were attending your classes at a leisure centre it is possible that your provider is offering telephone support or virtual classes on the Internet, either live via Facebook or recorded sessions via YouTube. To find out more we recommend visiting your provider's website to see how they have adapted their services.

If this is not an option we encourage participants to use one of our digital support tools, mentioned above. For any questions please email hello@escape-pain.org​

Celebrating the ESCAPE-pain programme

To honour the ESCAPE-pain national programme we are sharing four new video case studies from participants around the country, who along with thousands of other people, have made positive improvements to their lives as a result of completing the programme. Here from Ann, Ray, Eileen and John how their lives have changed.

​For more videos and case studies visit our Personal Stories page.

Our colleagues at Versus Arthritis have produced an ESCAPE-pain animation to celebrate the programme and our partnership. Have a look to see what we've been up to.

#LiveBetterDoMore

Remember to use the #LiveBetterDoMore hashtag when tweeting or sharing any participant feedback. We'd love to hear more from you so if you have any personal stories to share and would like to tell us about your experience of the ESCAPE-pain programme or app email us at: hello@escape-pain.org. 

Latest News

• 4 May 2020: Read our newly published Spring Newsletter.
• 4 May 2020: Read our full report on 'Scaling-up ESCAPE-pain: An evaluation of an AHSN Network national programme', produced by Dr Andrew Walker, the programme's Deputy Clinical Director. The purpose of the evaluation was to investigate the factors influencing the national spread of ESCAPE-pain, to build knowledge about the theory and practice of implementing interventions at scale within healthcare settings. Short on time? Read the summary version here.
• 30 April 2020: ESCAPE-pain article on Health Innovation Network (HIN) website, 'ESCAPE-pain resources to support people with chronic joint pain during COVID- 19'.
• 28 April 2020: Read our article 'Scaling-up an evidence-based intervention for osteoarthritis in real-world settings: a pragmatic evaluation using the RE-AIM framework' published in Implementation Science Communications. Implementation Science Communications is an inclusive and multidisciplinary journal, welcoming studies on strategies across the implementation continuum – from planned implementation to evaluations of implementation efforts and natural experiments to planned de-implementation of practices without clear evidence of benefit.
• 7 April 2020: ESCAPE-pain Online included in Versus Arthritis advice on 'How to manage your pain at home'.
• 1 April 2020: ESCAPE-pain is ​referenced in the new resources published by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) to support people self-managing their musculoskeletal conditions. These resources are supported by NHS England and NHS Improvement as part of the MSK leadership group which also includes the British Orthopaedic Association (BOA), the British Society for Rheumatology (BSR), the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Versus Arthritis and the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance (ARMA).
• 1 April 2020: ESCAPE-pain Facebook page launched to support the ESCAPE-pain community.

Contact us by email at hello@escape-pain.org for more information.

Page last reviewed: 04 May 2020. Page last updated: 04 May 2020. Next review date: 1 July 2020

ESCAPE-PAIN app

Available for iOS and Android