Guest Article by Drew Singleton, Managing Director of Core Healthcare Group

Core Healthcare Group is part of InterHealthcare, a member of Painaustralia. 

One of our recent and exciting announcements is the creation and launch of the Core Pain Management Program (CPMP) which is an integrated program that empowers participants to understand their own chronic pain, musculoskeletal injuries, assist individuals to overcome any persistent pain barriers. The CPMP assists participants with durable and safe return to meaningful activity and promotes enhanced health and wellbeing. Prior to the adoption of Telehealth, the program was accessible only to South East QLD patients, as it was reliant on face-to-face communication.  However, COVID has really been the catalyst for many organisations to be creative and flexible with the way they deliver their programs and IHC is no exception.

To date, over 1200 patients have been through the program which has been delivering a work rehabilitation rate in excess of 90% - a truly significant achievement. Launching online has enabled the Core Pain Management Program to address one of the critical items identified in the National Strategic Action Plan for Pain Management: the ability to be more accessible and available to support the huge 80% of people living with chronic pain who are missing out on treatment. Through using Telehealth as a primary method of assessment and program delivery, CPMP prides itself on being cost-effective and readily accessible regardless of where each patient is located throughout Australia.  This is an exciting development enabling us to positively impact more people over a broader geographical area.

The team at IHC have a whole host of specialists on board to assist patients including Physiotherapists, Exercise Physiologists, Clinical Psychologists and Pain Specialists, all of whom contribute to the overall running of the program in accordance with the National Strategic Action Plan. The team is made up of leading specialists committed to the care, support and rehabilitation of people suffering chronic pain. 

Strategies for patients are based around developing active pain management coping techniques, without the use of medicine or other surgical procedures.  

Highlights of the CPMP include:

• Evidence-based education guidelines on a wide variety of chronic health conditions.
• Interactive training activities, related cognitive behavioural therapy, communication skills and assertiveness.
• Progressive muscle relaxation training, sleep hygiene and mindfulness coaching.
• Exercise goal setting, graded activity, incident management, medication scheduling and the principles of safe exercise.
• Active participation in understanding the concept of pacing and manual handling.
• Learning how to evaluate and modify workstations and activities of daily living to avoid postural stress and increase comfort
• Individualised core stability training.
• Development of a specific and progressive independent functional rehabilitation program, with the goal to improving the overall wellbeing and increasing the participation of the individual.

Patients can use the CPMP by getting a referral from their GP or Allied Health providers.

Working in partnership with Painaustralia and in support of the National Strategic Action Plan for Pain Management, the team at CPMP are committed to exploring ways to improve the lives of individuals living with pain and working towards minimising the impact of living with pain on both the individuals and the community at large.

For more information, please call the team on 1300 012 273.