From our Executive Director, Maria Hudspith
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Last month, Pain BC launched the
BC ECHO for Chronic Pain
, a free interdisciplinary online learning community that is supporting health care providers to gain knowledge, confidence, and skills so they can provide improved care for people with pain in their communities.
Our first ECHO session on April 30th brought together 127 health care providers to learn together from complex pain cases. Registration data showed 21% of providers reported practicing in rural or remote settings – areas in which the population size is less than 29,999, and in some cases, without year-round road access to suburban/urban centres. It’s fantastic to see provider involvement from smaller communities, as often this is where there are no pain services. It’s my hope that through our ECHO, people living with pain in rural and remote areas will receive improved care in their own communities. We’ll continue promoting our ECHO widely across the province to ensure even more providers in rural and remote communities are able to participate.
Our first session has shown us the vast potential of this learning model in catalyzing local communities of practice. Some health clinics are hosting local ECHO “viewing parties” to bring practitioners together to discuss pain cases and learn from each other in person. For the first session, a total of 38 practitioners attended through 3 separate viewing parties. Following the official ECHO session, they held robust, interdisciplinary discussions about challenging cases and local practice contexts. The viewing party hosts provided us with feedback about what went well, what could be improved, and what topics they would like to learn more about. These viewing party hosts are becoming great allies in our shared mission to improve provider capacity to assess and treat persistent pain across the province, and we hope to recruit more locations. If you are interested in hosting a viewing party, please contact us at
education@painbc.ca
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We’ve now opened registration for
Cycle 2 of our ECHO
, which will begin in September 2019. There is a strong appetite and need for chronic pain education in our health care system, and we’re excited to continue to grow this community! Please help us spread the word so we can get this important learning opportunity in the hands of more providers.
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Access our free database of pain self-management resources, including articles, assessment tools, and an anonymous discussion forum.
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Connect with a trained volunteer to talk about your pain, get help with finding a new physician, find information on community resources, and much more.
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Changes to ICBC accident benefits
Newest Pain Waves podcast episode
In our most recent episode of the Pain Waves podcast, we’re joined by Vito Albanese, the Senior Director of Claims Strategy and Programs at ICBC. He walks us through the major changes that recently took place for ICBC claims as of April 1, 2019, why these changes have been made and how they will impact anyone who develops chronic pain as the result of a motor vehicle accident.
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Undiagnosed pain: One woman's journey of hope
While Canadian statistics are not widely known, US estimates suggest that as many as 1 in 10 Americans live with rare and undiagnosed illnesses
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In recognition of Undiagnosed Day on April 29, 2019, a patient advocate shares their journey on living with undiagnosed pain.
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BC ECHO for Chronic Pain: Dr. Najam Mian, Clinical Lead
With the recent launch of the BC ECHO for Chronic Pain, we spoke to Dr. Najam Mian, Clinical Lead, about what he hopes our ECHO hopes to accomplish for BC health care providers and people living with persistent pain.
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Feedback opportunity: Health Canada proposal to reclassify tramadol
Accepting feedback until June 18, 2019
Health Canada
recently announced a proposal to reclassify tramadol, a commonly prescribed opioid medication, to be included in their Schedule 1 list of controlled narcotics. Reclassifying tramadol from a prescription drug to a narcotic will impact how patients are prescribed tramadol, how prescribers perceive tramadol as a pain management option, and the surveillance of tramadol prescribing practices. Health Canada is accepting feedback on this proposal until June 18, 2019.
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Feedback opportunity:
Survey to identify research priorities in mind and body therapies for chronic pain
Survey by Cochrane Complementary Medicine
Cochrane Complementary Medicine
is seeking feedback from people with pain, caregivers, health care providers, researchers and members of the public regarding further research on complementary therapies for several types of chronic pain. Their definition of complementary therapies includes mind-body therapies such as meditation, yoga, movement and relaxation, and acupuncture.
The survey should take between 5 and 15 minutes to complete. Anyone with an interest in mind-body therapies for managing pain is encouraged to provide their feedback.
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Health Canada announces new funding for pain initiatives
Health Canada
recently announced new funding investments for pain initiatives, including $2 million for the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada to develop a curriculum for Canada's 17 medical schools, enabling future physicians to learn more about the diagnosis, treatment and management of chronic pain.
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IASP: New definition of chronic pain
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Solutions for Kids In Pain: Introductory webinar
June 5, 2019 at 8:00am PST
Solutions for Kids in Pain
(SKIP) is a newly formed network that is working to bridge the gap between current treatment practices and available evidence‐based solutions for children’s pain in the Canadian health care system. They are holding an introductory webinar on June 5, 2019 at 8:00am PST to discuss their work in detail. They invite anyone with an interest in children's pain to attend.
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Pain Chats
PainChats is a free online resource for people with persistent pain. They seek expert advice from specialists to answer questions and fill in missing gaps in the information available online.
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Upcoming Pain BC and partner workshops, webinars and courses
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Pain BC webinar: Contextual coping
This webinar will explore the nature of learning to live with pain across life domains and over the lifespan, and the possible reasons for using coping strategies to manage pain.
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Pain BC workshop: Chronic Pain Management for Chiropractors
This workshop is for chiropractors or students of chiropractic interested in developing or enhancing their clinical skills in the assessment and treatment of people living with complex and chronic pain.
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Pain BC workshop: Chronic Pain Management for Registered Massage Therapists
This workshop provides RMTs with an opportunity to learn how modifications of traditional massage therapy practices can increase success and improve outcomes for people in pain.
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BC ECHO for Chronic Pain
This new and free virtual learning community brings together specialists and community health care providers from around the province to learn together from complex pain cases.
Cycle 1 is now full. We encourage you to apply to join Cycle 2, which will begin in September 2019.
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Gentle Movement and Relaxation Course
This free and online course will equip physiotherapists and other therapeutic movement professionals with practical knowledge and teaching resources to lead their own movement and relaxation programs for people living with chronic pain.
The Gentle Movement and Relaxation Course is currently available to BC health care providers only.
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WWDPI webinar: Improving work outcomes in patients with musculoskeletal pain
More details coming soon.
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Okanagan woman fears loss of life-changing chronic pain treatment
Practitioners in the pain community, along with a person in pain, share their concerns over the new CPSBC draft regulations for procedural pain management treatments.
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Rip up current system and start over, recommends review of BC's professional health colleges
An expert on health care regulation recently reported that the existing regulatory framework for BC's professional health colleges does not adequately protect the needs or safety of patients.
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5 tips for students with brain fog
A blogger with lived experience shares some helpful tips for students experiencing fatigue as a result of their chronic illness.
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The question I hate being asked as a chronically ill person
This article looks at the author's least-favourite questions to be asked as a chronically ill person, and how rephrasing them can make a big difference.
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Mi'kmaw nurse explains how Indigenous pain is often misunderstood
A nurse from the Mi'kmaq First Nation was recently given the Rising Star Award of nursing in Nova Scotia for educating colleagues about the cultural differences in how Indigenous peoples feel and describe pain.
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FDA identifies harm from sudden discontinuation of opioid pain medicines
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently issued a warning to US health care providers, recognizing that dramatic or sudden opioid tapering can be harmful for anyone relying on opioid medications for long-term pain relief.
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Pain BC programs and initiatives are funded, in whole or in part, by the Government of British Columbia.
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© 2019 Pain BC Society. All Rights Reserved.
1508 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC V6J 1W8
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