Grant: Catalyst Grant: Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis

Low back pain (LBP) is a leading cause of disability, is one of the most common reasons for visiting a family doctor, and costs the Canadian health care system between $6 and $12 billion a year. A growing population that is increasing in age and experiencing more chronic health concerns is making it difficult for family doctors to meet the demand from patients. One way to support doctors is to build a team of health care providers to help address the needs of patients. Physiotherapists (PTs) provide evidence-based management for LBP. If people with LBP are able to see a PT first when the visit their doctor's office, they may get a more focused LBP assessment and experience improved outcomes, while reducing the workload for family doctors. The proposed study will determine if it is feasible to carry out a larger study to determine the effectiveness and health system impact of a new model of care for LBP that gives people with back pain the ability to see a PT first. We will determine whether the larger study is feasible by seeing if we can recruit enough patients, carry out the proposed assessments, and achieve a high rate of follow-up. This study will also determine whether PTs can implement the proposed management plan at the doctor's office by monitoring their training, assessing their confidence to carry out the plan, and evaluating what they do in practice. Finally, this study will include interviews of patients and health care providers to get their perspectives on the new model of care. We will use these interviews to gain a better understanding of their satisfaction, the perceived value, and barriers and facilitators to implementing this new model of care. If this study suggests the larger study is feasible, the results of the larger study have the potential to transform primary care for LBP by informing decision makers about whether these models should be implemented more widely.