The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Health Services Research and Development (HSR&D) Services is supporting this Special Supplement to Medical Care on the topic of how measurement of well-being and whole person outcomes can improve healthcare and healthcare delivery.
Abstract submissions are open to members and non-members for consideration as pre-conference courses, symposia, panel discussions, papers, research spotlights, and posters. The Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) meeting is a multidisciplinary behavioral medicine conference, offering more than 30 topic areas, including cancer, diabetes, pain, physical activity, obesity, and digital health.
Veterans and Caregivers are invited to submit abstracts for poster presentations that highlight research projects, Veteran Engagement Groups (VEGs), or other research-related activities. Posters sessions provide an opportunity meet researchers, other Veterans, and Caregivers from all over the United States. Accepted posters will be displayed during a poster session.
The PMC recently joined GitHub—a web platform widely used by developers to share source code for projects—to help disseminate best practices and lessons learned from the 11 pragmatic clinical trials to the pain research community.
The issue includes articles related to addressing and assessing risk factors for chronic pain and opioid misuse and articles related to psychological and integrated treatment approaches to pain management and opioid-risk mitigation.
Recently, a multidisciplinary group of leading experts in pain updated the definition of “pain” on behalf of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). Particularly relevant is the acknowledgement that pain is a personal, subjective and multidimensional experience that can be shaped by a range of biological, psychological and social factors.
The COVID-19 pandemic affects all of us and people with pain may feel particularly anxious. Managing physical and emotional aspects of pain is difficult under normal circumstances, and veterans and military service members and their families may feel particularly vulnerable due to the many new physical and emotional challenges brought on, or heightened, by the pandemic.
Bob Kerns, PhD, talks with the NIH Pain Consortium about the Pain Management Collaboratory (PMC) and the unique opportunities presented by the Collaboratory’s 11 pragmatic clinical trials studying nonpharmacological approaches to chronic pain.
Robert Kerns, Ph.D., gave an overview of the Collaboratory for staffers from the offices of Senator Richard Blumenthal (CT-D) and Senator Christopher Murphy (CT-D). Dr. Kerns highlighted the importance of the PMC in implementing research in integrated, learning health systems.
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS (DEADLINE HAS PASSED) “Evaluating Implementation and Effectiveness of Complementary and Integrative Health Approaches in the VA and Military Healthcare Systems”