Grant: Project Grant

One out of every five Canadians lives with chronic pain. A common problem reported by people living with pain is that their health providers do not have the required understanding and skills to provide them with effective care. This can result in misunderstanding, stigma, uncontrolled symptoms and prolonged disability. National strategies to address these problems focus on resolving important inconsistencies in how health providers are initially trained to manage pain. However, in order to make training programs more consistent and better aligned with research, we need to know more about the causes and consequences of these inconsistencies. This research aims to resolve these gaps in our understanding within the context of Canadian physiotherapy (PT) training programs. People living with pain, PT students and recent graduates, PT educators and PT program directors will all help lead and implement this project. We will interview faculty members in PT programs across the country; create a new assessment tool to evaluate PT students' knowledge and skills in pain management; and run the first nation-wide assessment to determine effectiveness of PT training programs in preparing PTs to manage pain. One of the innovative aspects of this project is that people living with pain will help create the assessment tool that will be used to determine whether PTs are adequately prepared to manage pain. Importantly, this assessment tool will include both written and practical components. The practical component of this assessment will be particularly useful in establishing the communication and interpersonal skills that are essential to effective pain management. Therefore, one of the important contributions of this work is that people living with pain will have the chance to shape the standards by which future health providers will be evaluated, thus ensuring they have the required knowledge and skills to provide effective care for the millions of Canadians suffering from pain.