Talking about mental health problems
It can be difficult to live with pain and it is not uncommon for patients consulting with pain to be low in mood or to have some anxiety. It is …
Exploring the effects of opioids
Best practice guidelines recommend that patients prescribed long-term opioids for persistent pain should be reviewed at least 6-monthly. Particular considerations when reviewing the continued effectiveness of opioids are any changes …
Agreeing a management plan
Listen and watch the presentation below to find out some of the considerations you might make when agreeing a management plan with a patient. Take me to: Consultation Skills Quiz
Shifting the conversation to self-care
A natural and often first response for patients when talking about the possibility of reducing their regular opioid use is to ask “what else?” there is for their pain. In …
Talking about opioids
This module looks at how to provide information about opioids in a way that supports informed decision making. First, take a look at the video below, which shows a simulated …
Talking about persistent pain
It can be difficult to talk to patients about pain but metaphors can be a useful way of explaining pain. Listen to the video below to find out about the …
Fostering behaviour change
For this lesson we would like to introduce you to Dr Janet Lefroy who will go over the principles of fostering behaviour change. Click on the image to open a …
Using the PROMPPT Pain Concerns Form to explore persistent pain more widely
This lesson outlines how you can use the PROMPPT Pain Concerns Form to allow patients to raise concerns about the wider issues of living with pain that they might not …
Communication skills
When healthcare professionals discuss making changes to opioids, this often meets defensiveness and resistance. Lecturing patients on the potential harms of opioids is unlikely to be effective in overcoming this …
