HAPPINESS: cHAnging the Perceived Pain INtensity in divErSe populations with Spinal cord injury: a feasibility study

• Consent to participate in the study 
• Review your demographic information and medication history
• Complete study-required questionnaires over Zoom 
• You will receive a Garmin smartwatch and we will assist in setting it up so we can receive the data during the study

If you are in this group, you will participate in an introductory Qigong class over Zoom, organized by the Spring Forest QigongTM Center, and receive access to an online video to practice at home, 3 times/week, 40min/session for 12 weeks. In addition, each month you will do a Qigong session over Zoom with a certified Spring Forest QigongTM Trainer. 

At least once a day, you will tap the watch and ensure the data from the watch are uploaded on the Garmin app on your smartphone. 

You will receive weekly check-in calls to ask about neuropathic pain, pain medication, how the training is going, and what effect from the intervention you perceive in your body. 

After the 12-week intervention, you will complete the same study-required questionnaires over Zoom as you did at the first visit.

You will also complete a 5-minute questionnaire 4x/day for 3 weeks before the start of the intervention and during the last 3 weeks of the intervention. You will receive $1 for each completed survey during those 3 weeks. 

If you are in this group, you will receive a daily link to a 2-minute pain management survey to complete. You can choose to receive this link via email or text message. 

At least once a day, you will tap the watch and ensure the data from the watch are uploaded on the Garmin app on your smartphone.

You will receive weekly check-in calls to ask about neuropathic pain, pain medication, how the pain management is going, and what effect from the intervention you perceive in your body. 

After the 12-week intervention, you will complete the same study-required questionnaires over Zoom as you did at the first visit.

You will also complete a 5-minute questionnaire 4x/day for 3 weeks before the start of the intervention and during the last 3 weeks of the intervention. You will receive $1 for each completed survey during those 3 weeks. (You will not receive money for completing the pain management surveys, only for the ones that are sent 4x/day during those 3 weeks).

You can continue with your intervention (Qigong or pain management) as often as you like. If you are in the pain management group, you will still receive the survey links but during these 6 months, you can choose how often you want to complete it. We want to know in this phase whether the intervention can change into a habit. 

At least once a day, you will tap the watch and ensure the data from the watch are uploaded on the Garmin app on your smartphone.

You will receive monthly check-in calls from Dr. Van de Winckel’s team and complete a 5-minute questionnaire 4x/day during the last 3 weeks of the 6-month follow-up. You will receive $1 for each completed survey during those 3 weeks. 

After the 6-month follow-up period, you will complete the same questionnaires over Zoom as you did before and after the intervention. You can keep the watch. If you completed all study components, you will receive $200. 

Researchers have found that some parts of the brain, related to pain and body awareness, function differently in adults with spinal cord injury and neuropathic pain. We know from our other studies that Qigong practice can help restore some of those brain functions along with pain reduction. Other studies have also demonstrated that pain management helps with dealing with pain. 

We would like to investigate how a 12-week Qigong practice or pain management helps reduce or eliminate neuropathic pain. We also want to know whether the intervention can turn into a habit.

This research helps us understand if these interventions are feasible in adults with spinal cord injury and neuropathic pain, with at least 50% of people of diverse backgrounds. 

Loose-fitting clothing would be fine. We recommend you wear clothing in which you are comfortable.

We will have you continue to do your usual activities. We will ask you not to start any other body awareness training (martial arts, dance, yoga, Pilates, Taichi) during the 12 weeks that you practice Qigong or do the pain management survey. You can continue any activities that you were doing beforehand.

For the first part of the study, we are recruiting various SCI stakeholders of diverse backgrounds to ensure that our study and interventions are culturally sensitive. 

We recruit participants with SCI with various levels of neuropathic pain but at least a 4/10 in highest pain intensity. Since the clinical part (second part of the study) is completely remote, recruitment is nationwide, from across the United States. 

Participants would not be able to participate in the clinical trial part of the study if they:

• have cognitive problems
• are unable to speak or understand instructions
• have fractures, pressure sores, or other infections that would hinder them from participating in the study
• have vision problems
• are already actively doing body awareness training (e.g. martial arts, dance, yoga, Pilates, Taichi)
• or who do not speak English or Spanish.   

If you are not sure if you are eligible, feel free to contact us.

There may be no direct benefit to participating in this study, but you could benefit from the Qigong practice or pain management in terms of pain relief and/or other benefits. In any case, the information from this study may help other people in the future.

There is no charge to participate. You will receive $200 after completing all study components in the second part of the study (clinical trial). You will receive $40 if you participate in the focus group or interview (in the first part of the study). 

While we cannot always promise a perfect match, we will do our best to plan our visits around your working schedule. Visits early in the morning, after 5 pm, or during the weekend can be discussed.