Project Summary
Chronic pain management faces a crisis in light of increased use of opioid analgesics and related misuse, abuse, addiction, and overdose. Prescription opioids are a frontline pain therapy, including within our nation’s federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and community health centers, which provide health care for marginalized and underserved populations. As concerns about prescription opioids increase, healthcare providers, patients, and families need real-world solutions for managing chronic pain.
We propose to formalize an alliance between patients, community healthcare providers, and other key stakeholders to address the challenges of managing chronic pain during the ongoing opioid epidemic. Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC), a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization, will lead this alliance. PHMC operates a network of five FQHCs, offering integrated behavioral health and primary care to more than 25,000 Philadelphians, and provides a continuum of substance abuse treatment services.
With funding from P2P, the project team will host several half-day symposia with key stakeholders: patients and families directly impacted by prescription opioid use, healthcare providers working in community health centers, behavioral health providers experienced in treating opioid use disorders, community and government stakeholders and advocacy groups, and researchers. Project activities to support symposia design include the following:
- Identification of patients to participate in project workgroup activities and meetings
- Semimonthly project discussions to prioritize topics and develop content and agendas for symposia
- Development of a targeted literature review, summarized in a brief white paper
Project activities will culminate in dissemination of symposia findings and will inform development of a patient-centered comparative effectiveness research proposal.