Increasing Equity in Pain Management, Substance Use Disorder Treatment, and Linkages to CARE

KEY ACTIVITIES FOR CREATING AND SUSTAINING AN INTEGRATIVE PAIN MANAGEMENT PROGRAM ✓ Review the best practices in: Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force Report: Updates, Gaps,

✓ Hire a coordinator to oversee operations of the program ✓ Slowly build the program; do not try to do everything at once ✓ Meet on a regular basis to discuss complex cases ✓ Hold support groups for patients to build trust and create community

Inconsistencies, and Recommendations. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ✓ Conduct internal and community strengths and needs assessments (e.g., asset mapping) to identify existing resources and assets as well as gaps in resources ✓ Based on the needs assessment, establish partnerships with organizations in the community that provide needed services that your health center cannot provide on its own

Principles of pain care The American Medical Association Pain Care Task Force (PCTF) developed principles of pain care to advance the widespread implementation of safe and effective care for patients with undertreated and mistreated pain. These principles can help with building capacity and guiding care teams in providing

integrated approaches to equitable pain care: 21 ❚ Provide individualized, patient-centered care

❚ Acknowledge the stigma associated with chronic pain ❚ Use standardized and validated pain assessment tools

❚ Find agreement in areas of clinical practice across specialties and guidelines ❚ Support multidisciplinary, multimodal, and integrated approaches to pain care ❚ Understand the relationship between acute pain and chronic pain ❚ Identify and treat disorders coexisting with pain ❚ Improve physician education and training ❚ Utilize all available pain medications responsibly and safely ❚ Keep chronic pain patients engaged in care

21 American Medical Association. Evidence-informed pain management: Principles of pain care from the AMA Pain Care Task Force ; 2019.

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