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Background: Consideration of the patient's perspective in healthcare is important because it may inform holistic and contextually relevant management strategies.Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore patients' experiences and perspectives about their chronic musculoskeletal (CMSK) pain and its management in the private healthcare sector in South Africa. This work was done as a pilot study to test, adapt and finalize an interview schedule.Methods: A descriptive, qualitative study was conducted. The sampling was purposive. Three patients with CMSK pain were recruited to participate in in-depth individual interviews. The interviews were recorded and transcribed ensuring confidentiality. Inductive, thematic content analyses of the transcripts were undertaken. Initial codes were assigned and a code book developed, which was applied to the transcripts to develop categories and themes.Results: Four themes emerged from the data: (1) the participants sought understanding about the pain's origin and the reason for pain persistence; (2) pain impacted their lives in multiple ways; (3) the participants depended on healthcare providers (HCP) for guidance and support; and (4) they had the option of acceptance of chronic pain.Conclusion: The participants' knowledge about their health condition had important implications as it influenced their perspectives on pain and its management. The pain presented the participants with several challenges, which included developing an understanding about pain and coping with the impact of pain in their lives. HCPs were perceived to play an important role in empowering or disempowering the participants.

Background: The need for rehabilitation in South Africa has doubled between 1990 and 2017 and is expected to increase in the coming years. However, the rehabilitation needs of South Africans (and globally) remain largely unmet. Establishing a common understanding of the value of rehabilitation can inform clinical practice and policymaking to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).Objectives: This study aims to explore the value of rehabilitation services in South Africa's public healthcare sector by gathering perspectives from stakeholders. The goal is to inform policy decisions related to the implementation of National Health Insurance (NHI) in South Africa.Method: The study used a phenomenological approach and interpretivist paradigm. Semi-structured interviews were conducted face-to-face, online, or telephonically with 12 stakeholders from various rehabilitation sectors. The value of rehabilitation was analysed and categorised into five main categories: context, service delivery, patient outcomes, economic and financial components, and collaboration within and between sectors.Results: The value of rehabilitation was found to be multifaceted, because of the varying health, economic, and social challenges faced by many South Africans.Conclusion: The study identified components of value-based rehabilitation that should be prioritised in the proposed NHI of South Africa. Future research should explore all stakeholder perspectives, including patients, and provide empirical evidence of rehabilitation's economic and societal value.Contribution: We highlight priority areas that are central to the value of rehabilitation in South Africa and other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Tailoring rehabilitation services to patient and community needs is crucial for achieving value-based care. Given South Africa's commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, prioritising rehabilitation remains essential.