More than
half of Americans live with chronic or recurrent pain. Forty percent of
Americans say pain interferes with their mood, sleep, ability to work and enjoy
their lives.
These
statistics come from Denise Giambalvo, vice president of the Midwest Business
Group on Health. She was among the panelists for the symposium
"Behavioral Health as Part of Comprehensive Pain Care and Payment Design for People with Pain".
The
Alliance to Advance Comprehensive Integrative Pain Management hosted the event
in partnership with the American Psychological Association. NASW, an AACIPM
partner, was a symposium sponsor.
The
program examined behavioral health as part of a comprehensive approach to pain
management from the perspectives of providers, people with pain, payors and
purchasers of health care.
Panelists
included Yvette Colón, PhD, ACSW, LMSW, a longtime NASW member and associate
professor at Eastern Michigan University School of Social Work.
Much
work has been done in the last 20 years to support effective pain management,
but the current climate toward improving care for people with chronic pain in
the U.S. continues to be complicated, Colón said.
Part
of the problem is care is fragmented.
“The people I work with often do not know
social workers can help with pain or that they are trained in interventions
that can address the difficulties
they have with pain,” Colón told attendees.
Insurance
coverage, and where to find help and training for caregivers remains
inconsistent among the professions, she said. As a Michigan resident, she noted
the state requires continuing education for social work licensure.
“In all
my social work training, I did not have any content on pain management,
including in my death and dying elective,” she said.
“There’s
an important opportunity we can all take to promote the continuing education of
social workers and other professions.”
Colón noted it’s vital to think about the intersection
of mental health, chronic pain and opioid use.
View
a recording of the symposium and more information at
painmanagementalliance.org.