MODEL OF CARE
Occupational Pain Medicine is a model of care and consulting service available to stakeholders that aims to achieve a safe and sustainable return to work following work injury or transport accident.
The Occupational Pain Medicine model of care was developed by Dr Steven Miller and draws upon the latest evidence-based approaches to the management of musculoskeletal injuries and persistent pain. This includes knowledge and insights gained from within the fields of both Occupational Medicine and Pain Medicine, and incorporates contemporary principles from Pain Neuroscience.
The model of care integrates the following:
The Occupational Pain Medicine model of care prioritises biopsychosocial contextual factors over biomedical structural (pathoanatomical) factors in the assessment and management of injured persons. A person-centred approach is adopted that does not exclude relevant biomedical factors, but rather focuses on mechanisms by which simple or complex injuries may become persistent, highly-disabling and life-changing conditions. This includes attention to organisational (employer) and systems-level (compensation scheme) drivers that can profoundly influence the injured person’s rehabilitation pathway. Five key aspects of the model of care include:
Two key references underpinning the Occupational Pain Medicine model of care are:
The services provided by Dr Miller can be found in Consulting Service.
Occupational Pain Medicine is a model of care and consulting service available to stakeholders that aims to achieve a safe and sustainable return to work following work injury or transport accident.
The Occupational Pain Medicine model of care was developed by Dr Steven Miller and draws upon the latest evidence-based approaches to the management of musculoskeletal injuries and persistent pain. This includes knowledge and insights gained from within the fields of both Occupational Medicine and Pain Medicine, and incorporates contemporary principles from Pain Neuroscience.
The model of care integrates the following:
- The injured person’s pathway through compensation schemes
- Employer, insurer and medicolegal perspectives
- Pitfalls and barriers that can impede safe and sustainable RTW
- Evidence supporting the health benefits of good work
- The highly variable approaches to managing patients within different medical and surgical specialties
- The multifaceted biopsychosocial contextual factors that can generate and reinforce persistent pain
- The practical implementation of contemporary Pain Neuroscience
The Occupational Pain Medicine model of care prioritises biopsychosocial contextual factors over biomedical structural (pathoanatomical) factors in the assessment and management of injured persons. A person-centred approach is adopted that does not exclude relevant biomedical factors, but rather focuses on mechanisms by which simple or complex injuries may become persistent, highly-disabling and life-changing conditions. This includes attention to organisational (employer) and systems-level (compensation scheme) drivers that can profoundly influence the injured person’s rehabilitation pathway. Five key aspects of the model of care include:
- Placing the person at the centre of the pain experience and the rehabilitation process
- Prioritising biopsychosocial contextual factors over biomedical structural factors
- Utilising the latest research and conceptual findings from contemporary Pain Neuroscience
- Focusing on the health benefits of good work and the means by which return to work may be sustained
- Emphasising early, open and informative communication between stakeholders
Two key references underpinning the Occupational Pain Medicine model of care are:
- Beales, D., Fried, K., Nicholas, M., Blyth, F., Finniss, D., Moseley, G.L. (2016). Management of musculoskeletal pain in a compensable environment: Implementation of helpful and unhelpful models of care in supporting recovery and return to work. Best Practice & Research Clinical Rheumatology, 30, 445-467. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27886941
- Miller, S.M. (2019). Occupational Pain Medicine: From paradigm shift in pain neuroscience to contextual model of care. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 13:188. [Download article here]
The services provided by Dr Miller can be found in Consulting Service.