Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

1 in 5 Canadians are affected by chronic pain, yet their healthcare providers do not always receive good education and training to communicate with them about the burden of pain. To address this gap in communication, we created CARING in Action-a six-part online training program for healthcare professionals, both in training and fully certified. This course aims to help doctors, nurses, and other providers communicate better with people living with chronic pain, using a patient-centred approach. What makes this training unique is its co-creation with patients, healthcare workers, and students, bringing together lived experience and scientific knowledge. It focuses on improving trust between patients and providers, especially for people in communities that are often overlooked or face discrimination and decision-making for clinicians. We now want to improve this training by updating the content, offering it in both English and French, and making it widely available across Canada. We will do so through healthcare partnerships and media channels, and finally integrate it into university curricula and professional development courses. Ultimately, this project aims to provide practical tools to healthcare professionals to deliver more respectful, inclusive, and effective care for people living with chronic pain. This modest but important step towards better education will foster empathetic conversations around pain, create a better experience for patients, and improve satisfaction for healthcare providers. This will ultimately reduce the costs of chronic pain management by improving health outcomes for Canadians.