Riding for a Revolution in Community-Based Pain Care
The Pain Revolution Ride is heading back on the road for a second time next April when Professor Lorimer Moseley, head of the BiM Research Group at University of South Australia, will lead 25 riders into regional Australia to help people rethink persistent pain and re-engage with this massive problem. There is a growing global community supporting the Pain Revolution message and calls for more help from rural communities have established the ride as an annual event.
Departing from Sydney and covering 1,000km over eight days through Kosciuosko National Park to Albury-Wodonga, the ride will hold educational events in Wollongong, Nowra, Canberra, Cooma and Albury-Wodonga. The events aim to empower communities with resources to recover from and prevent persistent pain.
The Local Pain Educator Program encourages people to rethink the causes of, and solutions to, persistent pain. The program gives health practitioners and people in pain the confidence, skills and resources to re-engage with active evidence-based approaches to pain. Achieving that at a community level gives people the confidence to take a self-management approach to recovery, and improve quality of life.
The inaugural ride was held in April this year, with 22 riders covering more than 880km between Melbourne and Adelaide. They conducted workshops for the public and health practitioners, with a combined total participation of close to 1500 people. The riders came together from diverse backgrounds but all shared an interest in persistent pain.
Fundraising efforts of riders and supporters exceeded $80,000 in 2017 and these funds are now being used to support an ongoing Local Pain Educator Network grounded in an evidence-based syllabus of pain education and self-efficacy. Education programs delivered by the University of South Australia will train and up-skill rural health professionals to become Local Pain Educators who will share the knowledge within their communities, with the support of a mentor program.
Pain Revolution Ride 2018 will be held 11-18 April with the team currently being selected from nominated riders from across the globe. Pain Revolution is a collaborative event and is linking up with established groups and services for their ride events and ongoing community activities. If you are interested in getting involved in community events or Local Pain Educator Network please email Angie Clerc-Hawke: angie.clerc-hawke@unisa.edu.au