Behavioral Pain Management

BHV-06 - When “What You Do” is Less Important than “How”: Using the Science of Contextual Care to Bolster Pain Outcomes.

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

4:00 PM – 5:30 PM PST

Location: Nolita 1-3

CE: Contact Hours: 1 | ANCC RX: 0| AANP RX: 0 | Mate: 0

Co-Presenter(s)

Kathryn A. Schopmeyer, DPT, CPE, CSCS

Pain Management, Opioid Safety and Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Regional Coordinator
Veterans Health Administration
San Francisco, California

Slides
Nkaku Kisaalita, PhD, ABPP

Pain Management, Opioid Safety, and Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PMOP) Facility Coordinator
Veterans Health Administration
Orlando, Florida

Slides
Charles W. Penza, DC, PhD

Staff Chiropractic Physician / Clinical Scientist
Veterans Health Administration
Orlando, Florida

What is the most important component of any pain intervention? Contextual factors in pain management – often described as “non-specific factors” or the “meaning response” – have unique neurobiological substrates and, on their own, can produce powerful pain-relieving effects. The presenters will highlight scientific advances in our understanding of the “meaning response” for pain, including updates from the placebo/nocebo literature. This interactive interdisciplinary session will explain the psychology and neuropharmacology of contextual care, dispel common myths/misconceptions, and will provide pain clinicians with new ways to ethically enhance patient-centered care.

Learning Objectives:

Describe the role of contextual factors in pain clinical settings.
Identify neurobiological and psychosocial mechanisms underlying contextual effects in pain medicine.
Describe how to leverage language and other contextual cues to enhance the pain management outcomes of the interventions they are currently providing in clinic.