The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)’s Faculty of Medicine (CU Medicine) was funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust with the total amount of HK$18 million this year to establish a three-year primary care programme, the Jockey Club “Confront Pain with Ease” Project (JC-COPE).

It aims to develop evidence-based pain care models in primary care and facilitate their effective dissemination and implementation in the community. The project is also pioneering the use of digital resources in chronic pain management.

The JC-COPE project will introduce a mobile app that provides online health information and videos on pain knowledge and skills for exercises and relaxation therapies at home.

The project has also set up an experimental Virtual Reality (VR) laboratory for group-based physical and mental therapies, conducted by board-certified professional instructors including physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, psychologists and counselling assistants.

The project team will use both qualitative and quantitative measures to evaluate the outcomes of pain care models and digital tools, providing more insights into better pain management.