Prevention Project - The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre
Hospital-based multidisciplinary specialist pain services for people with chronic pain have been shown to reduce medication use and improve mental health and quality of life.
However, there is an increasing demand for services and long waiting times compounded by limited reach to regional and remote areas. The National Pain Strategy, Australia’s first national framework of pain (2010) and The National Strategic Action Plan for Pain Management (2019) both call for greater involvement of primary care and more community-based pain programs.
To support PHNs to commission community-based pain programs, researchers from the Menzies Centre for Health Policy and Economics, through a project supported by The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre, established expert-agreed key elements and implementation enablers of community-based pain programs using an eDelphi consensus process. The researchers also surveyed PHNs who were currently commissioning consumer pain programs to gain an in-depth description of their programs.
For more information see The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre website: Report on the commissioning of community-based pain programs for PHNs
By addressing information needs and providing contacts for possible collaboration and support, this project has encouraged more PHNs to consider commissioning community-based pain programs; and allow those already commissioning pain programs to learn from others and adapt their own programs to continue to meet the needs of their local communities.
Painaustralia CEO Carol Bennett presented at a webinar on the project which included a panel discussion outlining the achievements of the program for addressing primary care pain management in Australia. The webinar, held on 23 June 2021 is available here.
Painaustralia collaborated with the Menzies Centre for Health Policy and Economics, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney; the Australian Prevention Partnership Centre and the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation to produce a fact sheet on pain programs available in PHNs around the country. The fact sheet is available here.