Dr. William Latimer speaks with Dr. Kelli Allen, a Research Professor of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Associate Director of the Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation at the Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in Durham, NC. She is also the Editor in Chief of Arthritis Care & Research. Dr. Allen’s research focuses on improving care and outcomes for individuals living with chronic pain conditions, particularly osteoarthritis and low back pain. She has conducted multiple clinical trials of behavioral and health services interventions for chronic pain conditions, funded by agencies including the National Institutes of Health, Department of Veterans Affairs and Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Dr. Allen’s work also has an emphasis on reducing disparities in chronic pain treatment and outcomes. In this episode Dr. Allen discusses the use of Non-Pharmacological Treatments for Chronic Pain. Chronic pain conditions (like arthritis and back pain) are highly common and can have substantial negative impacts on individuals’ function and quality of life. Medicines can help with pain, but their effects are often limited, and there are sometimes unwanted side effects. Non-pharmacological therapies, such as physical activity and pain coping skills training, can help people with chronic pain to improve their symptoms and get back to the activities they enjoy. Dr. Allen also discusses the types of non-pharmacological therapies that are known to be helpful and how others may be able to increase use of these treatments among people with chronic pain conditions.
