Consider spiritual and chronic pain

Leading Australian pain clinicians will break new ground in bringing together health professionals and people living with pain to explore the impact of spirituality.

The Pain and Spirituality Day to be held at Greenwich Hospital on 20 September  responds to research that shows people with chronic pain have high levels of spiritual or existential distress.

One of the organisers, Pain Medicine Specialist, Professor Philip Siddall, said that developing an understanding of the relationship between spirituality and pain was an important new area of pain treatment.

“Spirituality in various forms is a topic of growing interest in our community and addressing spiritual issues is now recognised as an important part of some areas of medicine such as palliative care,” Professor Siddall said.

“However, spirituality has received very little attention in the field of pain medicine. This is despite the fact that research shows people with chronic pain have higher levels of existential or spiritual distress than people with advanced cancer.

“This suggests that addressing the spiritual and existential issues that people face as part of living with chronic pain is tremendously important in supporting them,” he said.

Professor Siddall, physiotherapist Rebecca McCabe and Clinical Psychologist will lead the Pain and Spirituality Day and are also lead clinicians for the Greenwich Hospital Pain Management Service.

They recently co-authored The Pain Book that presents the major principles of their -special pain management approach, including aspects of spirituality.

The Pain Book is available in bookstores and at www.thepainbook.com