The role, intention, and purpose of qualitative research is to help complete a wholistic understanding of the persistent pain experience. The article \u201cEnriching clinical encounters through qualitative research\u201d offers insight into how qualitative research can help inform medical and dental education, clinical training, patient self-understanding, and other kinds of research. As a qualitative researcher for close to two decades, Richard Hovey has learned much about the meaning of living with persistent health conditions, in particular the experiences of people living with persistent pain. Qualitative research offers healthcare workers insight into the life of a person living with persistent pain before they meet, so that their understanding of that encounter may become deeper, empathetic, and more profound. For the researcher wishing to create a meaningful questionnaire or survey, qualitative research can help them construct questions that are relevant and specifically orientated for their intended participants. As for people living with persistent pain and even perhaps peer support groups, it offers an opportunity to explore other experiences from people with different perspectives to help make sense of one\u2019s own life situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An invitation to reading qualitative research has the potential to inform people connected by a common interest in learning more about the topic of persistent pain. All it takes is a first step engaging with the narratives of others, who are having an experience that others may not have had, yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n