247: From user needs to digital care: co-designing DigiDOL-Ad for adolescents with chronic pain

Topic: Clinical Science
Subtopic: Non-specific to any diagnosis, Non-pharmacological treatments, Digital Health Technologies , Pain in Special Populations

Background and Aims: Adolescents with chronic pain often experience substantial interference in physical, psychological, social, and school functioning. Although psychosocial interventions are recommended, access to specialized care remains limited, particularly outside large urban centers. Digital health interventions may help reduce this gap, but their relevance depends on whether they respond to the real needs, expectations, and contexts of intended users. DigiDOL-Ad is a digital psychosocial intervention currently being developed for adolescents with chronic pain, complemented by websites for parents and teachers. This study aimed to identify stakeholder perspectives on the needs, barriers, and preferences that should guide the development of DigiDOL-Ad and its accompanying resources.

Methods: Focus groups were conducted with key stakeholders involved in adolescent chronic pain care and support, including adolescents with chronic pain, parents, teachers, healthcare professionals, and health authorities. Sessions explored current challenges in pain management, unmet needs, previous treatment experiences, perceived barriers to digital intervention use, preferred app features, content priorities, and implementation considerations. Focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and are currently being analysed using a deductive content approach. Findings will be organized to identify both shared and stakeholder-specific needs and to translate these insights into concrete design requirements for DigiDOL-Ad and the accompanying websites.

Results: The poster will present preliminary findings from the focus group analysis. Expected results include stakeholder-specific and cross-cutting themes related to pain self-management, communication with healthcare professionals, family support, school functioning, treatment accessibility, and engagement with digital tools. The analysis will also identify preferred characteristics of the DigiDOL-Ad intervention, including content, tone, usability requirements, visual design, activities, and features likely to facilitate adoption and sustained use. Findings from teachers and parents will inform the structure and content of the companion websites, while input from healthcare professionals and health authorities will guide clinical relevance and future implementation within healthcare pathways.

Conclusions: This study will provide stakeholder-informed evidence to guide the development of DigiDOL-Ad as a digital psychosocial intervention for adolescents with chronic pain. By focusing on focus group findings, the poster will show how the voices of adolescents, families, teachers, clinicians, and health authorities are being translated into specific design and implementation requirements. This participatory approach may improve the relevance, usability, and future scalability of digital treatments for adolescent chronic pain.

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Presenting Author: Jordi Miro
Submitting Author: Jordi Miro

Senior Author: Jordi Miro

IASP 2026 Global Year theme of Neuropathic Pain: No

• Ariadna Sampietro: MSci - Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
• Rocío de la Vega: PhD - Universidad de Málaga, Málaga, Spain
• Víctor H. González: MD - Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
• Juan J. Lázaro: MD PhD - Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
• Ernesto Martínez: MD PhD - Hospital Niño Jesús, Madrid, Spain
• Elena García: MD - Hospital Niño Jesús, Madrid, Spain