2025 WCHRI Summer Student

A patient-led approach to bladder pain education

Cora Plitt’s research focused on creating health education tools for women with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (ICBPS), a chronic condition causing bladder pain and frequent urination. 

Her project took a “by patients, for patients” approach. This summer, she focused on the first of three phases: conducting focus group discussions with women with ICBPS to understand their experiences and needs. The feedback from these groups will be used to draft an educational tool.

“Women with ICBPS face difficulties independently managing intense flares of pain, which can have deeply negative impacts such as depression and suicidal ideation. They have called out a lack of supportive educational tools and empathy from the health-care system. We want to fill this gap and improve self-management ability with educational tools that are designed with and for women with ICBPS.”

Goals:

• Conduct focus groups with women with ICBPS to gather insights on their experiences and needs.
• Use this data in a co-creative process to draft relevant and authentic educational tools.
• In later phases, use additional focus groups to refine the tools and judge them against existing resources.

Potential impact: This research could lead to the creation of reliable and relatable educational tools that empower women with ICBPS to better manage their condition. 

Supervisor: Erin Kelly, associate professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology

Funders: Alberta Women’s Health Foundation

Interested in doing research to improve the health of women and/or children? Read more about WCHRI’s training awards for students at all levels and generous grants for researchers.