Workshop Overview
Best Practices in Assessing and Treating Chronic Pain Patients: An Evidence-based Approach
 
Please click here for a PDF version of the workshop overview. 

This workshop will focus on the assessment and treatment of patients with chronic pain from an evidence-based perspective. The workshop will review the evidence for the clinical and cost-effectiveness of traditional pharmacological, surgical, and neuroaugmentative treatment (e.g., spinal cord stimulators, peripheral nerve blocks, implantable drug delivery systems), and interdisciplinary rehabilitation.

Based on the evidence a comprehensive approach to the treatment of chronic pain patients with diverse syndromes will be described. The rationale for the integrated, biopsychosocial approach will be provided and specific examples of comprehensive assessment and rehabilitative treatment based on this approach will be presented.

In addition, detailed information will be provided regarding the application of biopsychosocial principles in a patient-focused program that emphasizes self-management. The workshop will provide practical information that clinicians can use in assessing and treating the range of patients with diverse pain chronic pain syndromes. Some prognostications about the future of pain management will be offered.
 
Workshop is one full-day session. Registration fees include take-away presentation materials and morning & afternoon coffee breaks.

8:30am    Registration
9:00am    Workshop begins
10:30am  Morning coffee break
12 - 1pm  Lunch break
2:30pm    Afternoon coffee break
4:00pm    Workshop ends

 
Learning Objectives
 
Upon completion of the workshop, participants will be able to:
 
  • Discuss the evidence supporting the clinical and cost-effectiveness of the most commonly used approaches used in the treatment of patients with chronic pain.
  • Describe the most common perspectives on chronic pain.
  • Explain the impact of the perspectives on chronic pain on methods of assessment and treatment.
  • Develop a comprehensive, approach to assessment of chronic pain patients based on the biopsychosocial perspective.
  • Discuss the problem of the “patient uniformity myth” and the potential of treatment matching.
  • Describe the assumptions of the biopsychosocial approach.
  • Explain the objectives of the biopsychosocial rehabilitation of chronic pain patients.
  • Describe the features of the biopsychosocial approach.