Exploring Psychosocial Interventions in Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is widely recognized as a bio-psycho-social phenomenon, yet family physicians often rely solely on medication management strategies. Understanding the scientific role of biological, psychological and social factors in mediating chronic pain, as well as the resources available beyond medication management, can leave providers feeling more empowered in caring for patients with these issues. In this session, our panel will review the current understanding of the etiology of chronic pain, including its biological, psychological and social/environmental components and discuss non-pharmacologic strategies for managing all three. Psychological factors such as unhelpful beliefs, worries, fears, and avoidance behaviours, as well as resources to support patients in this area, will be addressed. Social factors like unsupportive work environments, stressful situations or insurance issues will also be covered. The Practising Well Community of Practice has been certified by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Ontario Chapter for up to 1 Mainpro+Ⓡcredits. This Community of Practice includes a series of planned webinars. Each session is worth 1 Mainpro+Ⓡcredits, for up to a total of 12 credits. Panelists: Dr. Andrea Furlan Dr.Paul Hoogeveen Dr. Bryan MacLeod Moderator: Dr. Stephanie Zhou, Addictions Medicine Physician and EDI & Social Accountability Lead, Sunnybrook Hospital; FHO Lead, Don Mills FHT; Assistant Professor, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine; Board Director, Toronto Public Health, Toronto, ON Co-host: Dr. Nikki Bozinoff, Division Head, Mental Health and Addictions, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto; Physician, Concurrent Outpatient Medical and Psychosocial Addiction Support Service, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health This session originally took place on January 22, 2025. A recording can be viewed Here