Sunday Conversations - June 23, 2023

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Last Updated: 28 June 2024 28 June 2024

“Improving Pain Care Through Education and Policy”

Sunday, June 23, 2024, 4 p.m. Eastern Time


Cindy Steinberg

Jackie Orent-Nathan

Michele Matthews

In this edition of Sunday Conversations, we continued our series on comorbidities with a focus on pain. A panel of three presenters from the Massachusetts Pain Initiative (MassPI) presente on the work their organization does to improve the lives of people suffering from pain through knowledge, education, and policy reform. Cindy Steinberg discussed her role in past and current legislative actions, both locally and nationally. Jackie Orent-Nathan talked about pain neuroscience and about solutions that use neuroplasticity to influence the reorganization of neural networks. Michele Matthews focused on medications and provided the "Ins and Outs of Medications for Pain and Symptom Management".

About the Massachusetts Pain Iniative

The Massachusetts Pain Initiative was started in Boston in 1996 when there were at least 10 other state pain initiatives around the country. The original organization folded but restarted under sponsorship of the American Cancer Society. Over time, the other pain initiative organizations folded, but the Massachusetts chapter persevered. The organization continued to operate under the umbrella of other agencies until 2019 when MassPI was granted non-profit status. Its mission has evolved to "improve the lives of people suffering from pain with a focus on knowledge, education, and policy." We provide resources about pain and work to advance pain management in the Commonwealth through public policy. Additionally, MassPI holds one pain education conference in the Fall. Conferences provide educational content for continuing education contact hours for various health care professionals, depending on the program.

 

Meet the Panelists

Cindy Steinberg: Cindy is the Director of Policy and Advocacy for the U.S. Pain Foundation and Policy Council Chair for the Massachusetts Pain Initiative. She is a nationally prominent and articulate spokesperson for the needs of people living with pain. Ms. Steinberg has been appointed to several high-ranking federal and state government policy committees including the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (IPRCC) chaired by the NIH, the Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force created by Congress in 2018, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s Opioid Working Group and the Massachusetts Drug Formulary Commission. In February of 2019, Ms. Steinberg was invited to testify before the US Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee at a hearing on “Managing Pain During the Opioid Crisis”. She has been interviewed in print and on radio, television and internet sites including NPR’s All Things Considered and Marketplace, The New York Times, The Boston Globe and numerous local TV and radio affiliates.

Ms. Steinberg has won numerous awards for her pain policy and advocacy accomplishments. She was awarded the 2023 American Academy of Pain Medicine Patient Advocacy Award for her commitment, contribution and leadership in the field of Pain Medicine, the 2021 American Massage Therapy Association President’s Award for her advocacy for access to therapeutic massage and other integrative modalities for individuals with chronic pain, the American Academy of Pain Medicine’s 2017 Presidential Commendation Award for leadership on behalf of individuals living with pain, the Grunenthal Unsung Hero Award for significant contributions to advance public policy in pain management as well as the social awareness of pain and suffering, the American Pain Foundation's Presidential Medal for outstanding contributions to the field of pain management and the State Pain Initiative Champion Award from the Alliance of State Pain Initiatives for her pain policy accomplishments. Ms. Steinberg was selected as one of six leaders in the field of pain management to receive the Mayday Pain & Society Fellowship for 2013-2014. Her dedication to pain advocacy was sparked when she sustained a severe crush injury that left her with daily back pain.

 

Jackie Orent-Nathan, APRN-BC: Jackie has undergraduate degrees in Medical Technology and Nursing and a Masters degree in Advance Practice Nursing and is certified as a Posture Educator by FitAlign Posture Training. In 2012, she was recruited to the largest primary care practice in NH to redesign their care for chronic pain patients. She co-developed a novel and highly effective approach focused on pain neuroscience education and yoga, utilizing a group medical model of care. The program became more successful at relieving pain than any other available modality, receiving rave reviews from patients and their primary care providers. Jackie is now a sought-after practitioner who utilizes her knowledge of pain and posture neuroscience to creatively help persistent pain sufferers regain function and quality of life.

 

Michele Matthews, PharmD, BCACP, FASHP: Dr. Michele Matthews is Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. She is an advanced practice pharmacist specializing in pain management and addiction medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). She participates in team-based care of patients with chronic non-cancer pain at BWH and has also implemented a pharmacist-run chronic pain management clinic embedded within the hospital’s largest primary care center where she has prescriptive authority under collaborative drug therapy management. She has also previously developed an innovative collaborative care model for the management of opioid use disorder within the primary care setting and currently serves on an interprofessional team that supports the care of patients with substance use disorder.

Dr. Matthews has published several articles and book chapters on topics related to pain management and substance use disorders. She has also been involved with numerous research projects that have focused on interprofessional education and training for pain management and the pharmacist’s role in improving medication management in patients on high-risk medications. She is actively involved with several professional pharmacy organizations and is a founding member and past president of the Society of Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacists.

 

Materials from the presentation: