​ESCAPE-pain is a group rehabilitation programme for people with chronic joint pain that integrates educational self-management and coping strategies with an exercise regimen individualised for each participant. It helps people understand their condition, teaches them simple things they can help themselves with, and takes them through a progressive exercise programme so they learn how to cope with pain better. 

ESCAPE-pain offers two programmes: 

• ESCAPE-pain for knees and hips: designed to benefit people with chronic knee or hip pain
• ESCAPE-pain for backs: designed to benefit people with chronic low back pain. 

ESCAPE-pain clinics for trained facilitators: 

We are hosting monthly support sessions for trained facilitators from new and existing ESCAPE-pain sites who would like implementation support. The one hour sessions are focused on answering questions from facilitators on various topics related to implementation of the ESCAPE-pain programme(s). The sessions are open to facilitators trained to deliver either ESCAPE-pain for knees/hips or ESCAPE-pain for backs.

We will continue to add new monthly dates to the schedule, please register via the links below.

Tips for supporting ESCAPE-pain participants during COVID-19

We'd like to remind you of the availability of the ESCAPE-pain digital support tools which replicate the face-to-face programme and are free to use.

• ESCAPE-pain Online is the web-based version of the ESCAPE-pain app and is accessed via our website. ESCAPE-pain Online was originally designed to be viewed on a computer but can also be viewed on other mobile devices.

• ESCAPE-pain app is available on Android smartphones and tablets by searching 'escape pain app' on Google Play

Both tools take users through a six-week programme, with two sessions per week, each containing:

• Exercise videos with simple, easy to follow exercises with clear instructions that were developed so people could do the exercises safely in their homes;
• Educational videos with engaging animations giving simple advice and information to help people understand how to better manage their condition;
• Individual progress chart to track their improvement over time.​

We recommend you read through our ESCAPE-pain support tools guidance which contains our top tips for getting the best out of the ESCAPE-pain support tools before deciding which one you'd prefer to use. 

Supporting people with limited or no access to technology

We recognise many of the tools that are being recommended to support people to keep active in their homes during COVID-19 require access to smart devices, laptops, the Internet etc. In order to support people who do not have access to the Internet or digital devices we have pulled together a list of resources that can be printed out and sent to people, and also some radio and television resources. See our updated information.