Natalie Snaddon
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Peer Support Facilitator, Wellington & Southland Pain Services, NZ
Natalie lives with chronic pain following a treatment injury in 2006 during cancer treatment. This includes complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) in her trunk, auto immune arthritis and a compromised immune system (she has had shingles 19 times). Natalie also has pernicious anaemia with accompanying neuropathy.
In 2017 Natalie completed the Pain Management Programme with the Wellington Pain Service. At that time she was not working and was limited in her movement and activities. Through implementing the strategies and utilising the information provided in the programme Natalie has regained her zest and passion for life. She has returned to work and study and has an active work and social life. She is also a keen exerciser – a long way from the sedentary lifestyle she had in 2017. Natalie brings this lived experience to her role as a Peer Support Facilitator with both the Wellington and Southland Pain Services. She is passionate about the involvement and development of peer support in this area. She is co-chair of the Lived Experience Advisory Panel, NZPS. She has a background in Adult Teaching and Research. She is currently involved with research projects with the University of Otago, Wellington and the University of Technology, Sydney. |
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Learning from Lived Experience Expertise with Pain
In her Peer Support Facilitator role with the online iSelf Help Pain Management Programme for both the Wellington and Southland Pain Services, Natalie has focused on how to utilise her experience and expertise as a lived experience expert together with her background in Adult Teaching. She knows that living with chronic pain has a major impact on one’s ability to learn, to engage and to focus and so structures her sessions to ensure that different learning styles are met, together with the specific challenges posed when living with pain. Natalie will unpack some of the learning strategies she uses within her role to facilitate engagement and learning. These include practical examples to demonstrate key concepts. Utilising movement and humour are particular strengths of Natalie’s approach. These strategies successfully enable the mind shifts necessary to take the information framework provided by the programme and implement the practical changes that make the programme successful. With over five years in this role, Natalie has continued to reflect and implement changes to improve the peer support component and its contribution to the programme.
