Finding self-worth—Experiences during a multimodal rehabilitation program when living at a residency away from home

BACKGROUND: Patients with chronic pain who live in rural areas often need to travel long distances to participate in multimodal rehabilitation programs. To reduce traveling during the programs, patients sometimes live at a residency close to the clinic and thus far from home. AIMS: The aim of this study was to explore how patients with chronic pain experience participation in an multimodal rehabilitation program while living at a residency. METHOD: Twelve patients from two specialist clinics in northern Sweden were interviewed about their experiences of participating in a multimodal rehabilitation program. The data were analyzed qualitatively using a grounded theory method with an emergent design. RESULTS: The analyses resulted in a model with the core category “finding my self-worth” consisting of four categories: “space for myself,” “mirroring myself,” “I am of value,” and “dealing with returning to everyday life.” The model illustrates the process whereby participants are given space for themselves and an opportunity to mirror themselves in interaction with other participants. That provided insight about their self-worth that was valuable for return to everyday life at home and work. CONCLUSION: Living at a residency during multimodal rehabilitation provided added value when patients were relived from the obligations of everyday life at home and given time for reflection and interaction with others in similar situations. This contributed to awareness of their own value and the necessity of taking care of themselves. This new insight led to increased motivation to act differently at home.