Pain is a public health concern in the United States: more than 100 Million people report suffering from pain, and about 10% of the population have severe pain. Overprescribing of opioid medication has contributed to a wave of overdose deaths and suicides, and about 2 Million people in the US have addiction or are dependent on opioids. The opioid crisis is a public health emergency that requires new approaches. This course will outline how team-based multidisciplinary pain care grounded on the biopsychosocial model of pain improves the functioning of patients with chronic pain, while reducing reliance on opioid medication. Based on the federal health care systems in the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the speakers will outline models to integrate behavioral, exercise/movement therapies and complementary integrative health modalities to successfully treat pain. A Stepped Care Model for Pain Management emphasizes patient and family/caregiver education in self-care/ self-management. The course will provide an overview of evidence-based non-pharmacological modalities that are recommended for inclusion into multimodal pain care, in particular, behavioral and complementary integrative health (CIH) approaches. Reducing opioid prescribing, implementing opioid risk mitigation strategies, and access to opioid use disorder including medical assisted treatment are important tools as we combat the opioid crisis in the US.
Participants will be able to: