Bhce Chronic Pain

By Author: William Deardorff
Total Articles: 2
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The Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) blue ribbon Committee on Advancing Pain Research, Care, and Education has recently issued the most comprehensive report on pain in America ever produced. Its findings and recommendations are dramatic:

Pain represents a public health crisis of epidemic proportions;

There is a moral imperative to address this crisis; and

Solutions will require a cultural transformation in the way pain, particularly chronic pain, is understood, assessed and treated.

The IOM found the basic facts of chronic pain in America to be staggering:

116 million adults are burdened with it — that’s more than 1 in 3 adults, and more persons than are afflicted by heart disease, diabetes and cancer combined!

The prevalence of chronic pain will only increase as the population ages and as the effects of obesity manifest themselves in pain-related conditions like diabetes and musculoskeletal pain.

Chronic pain annually costs the American economy between $560-635 billion in added healthcare and lost productivity (excluding costs of pain affecting institutionalized individuals, ...
... military personnel, and children under age 18).

Public healthcare programs absorbed almost $100 billion in pain care costs in 2008.

Human suffering is often unnecessary — millions of people get inadequate pain relief for conditions that could be treated or managed. The IOM recommends a comprehensive strategy to address pain as a complex chronic disease, not just a symptom of other injury and illness. This strategy includes improving professional education through continuing health professions training (e.g. continuing education programs).

Conclusion

Mental health professional can further assist their patients by being aware of chronic pain evaluation and treatment issues. Mental health professionals should avail themselves of continuing education programs that address chronic pain.

The author, William W. Deardorff, Ph.D. is board certified in clinical health psychology and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. He specializes in health psychology with an emphasis in pain disorders. Dr. Deardorff has published numerous scientific articles, book chapters, as well as ten books. He is the Program Administrator for BehavioralHealthCE.com which contains Psychology Continuing Education Online for mental health professionals. The online continuing education web site contains a number of courses on chronic pain written for mental health professionals.