Supported by medical assistants, the program combines cognitive behavioral therapy with additional beneficial activities
For people with chronic pain looking for answers, the question isn’t just about finding the right treatment — it’s also about being able to reliably access that treatment.
Injections and other medical interventions can provide temporary relief.
Developing cognitive behavioral therapy skills — like improving sleep habits, learning techniques to reduce stress and reframing unhelpful thought patterns — may also help, but patients don’t always have access to qualified therapists.
A University of Michigan study published in Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine suggests that a new, mostly digital program supported by trained medical assistants may help reduce how much pain interferes with day-to-day life for people with chronic pain.
The study tested a program called Promoting Resilience with Innovative Self-Management, which combines traditional cognitive behavioral therapy skills for pain with additional activities intended to promote resilience and positive emotion.
Participants were randomized to this program with CBT, standard CBT for pain or usual care.
While patients in the group saw similar overall results as those in the other groups at the end of the eight-week program, researchers noted a significant long-term improvement in symptom impact (a global measure of fibromyalgia-related health and function) versus usual care a year later.
What’s more, patients in the group showed superior improvements in pain interference — or how pain hinders someone’s daily activities — throughout the duration of the study.
“Pain relief is important, but for many people the win is being able to live more fully — to live a richer life and to engage in life with less disruption,” said Afton L. Hassett, PsyD, an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology who led the study along with fellow anesthesiology colleague David A. Williams, Ph.D.
“What stood out in this study was the improvement in pain interference, and that advantage persisted over time.”