Values Based Interdisciplinary Pain Management

Current practice in the outpatient setting tends to utilize pain psychology and movement based interventions such as exercise, physical therapy, or yoga as adjuncts to care, and are often delivered separately to the patient. Healthcare providers are aware of the benefits of psychological therapies and physical therapies for patients with chronic pain; however, there is often a gap in understanding how to implement psychological therapies or movement interventions. In this session we describe empirically validated psychological flexibility interventions and functionally based exercise program outcomes. Outpatient programs that include psychological and movement interventions within the framework of improving quality of life and pain reduction are hard to implement when a person is solely seeking pain reduction. Furthermore, interdisciplinary care is often limited to inpatient programs or restricted to Workers Compensation. This course will explore the role of pain psychology and physical therapy in reducing disability in patients with chronic pain, the fundamental elements and delivery methods of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), pain biology education, exercise, and improved chronic pain acceptance. The speakers will cover a novel program developed at Stanford, the role of the pain psychologist and the physical therapist, and outcomes/data on pain, disability, chronic pain acceptance, and PROMIS measures from the 6 week ACT+PT program. (Recorded at PAINWeek 2019)