Pain is a complex and extensive topic that applies to all physiotherapy and physical therapy practice. As clinicians we meet people who are in pain everyday, helping these people is what we do! Pain is an enormous topic that we are unable to cover in one learn topic but as a very important part of our knowledge base. This learn topic will provide an overview of current understanding of pain mechanisms and practice based on the latest evidence available. We’ll be exploring what pain is, looking at chronic pain and the psychology of pain, investigating how we assess pain and also exploring current trends in pain management and rehabilitation. It is by no means an exhaustive exploration of pain and we advise you to use it as a starting point for your understanding of pain.
About this course
This course in Physiopedia Plus is run in 4 sections, each section will make up one week of the 4 week course. We expect the required elements of each week to take around 4 hours and if you wish there will be opportunities to learn more by spending time looking through the additional resources that we provide.
The course directs you through a series of learning activities such as reading resources, watching videos, attempting quizzes and participating in discussions. There are certain required elements of the course that are required for a completion certificate, you must complete all these activities. The optional additional resources that you can use to consolidate and expand your learning, you can refer back to these at any time in the future.
It’s not going to be easy, we’ll expect you to work hard for your certificate and PP+ points! You won’t be sitting back and watching webinars, we’ll expect you to read, do quizzes, perform literature searches and other learning activities. You’ll need to reflect on your own experiences and contribute them to the discussion forum, this is where we can learn from each other’s experiences and knowledge from all around the world!
At the end of the course, when you have completed all of the required elements, you will be able to download a certificate of completion. There is also an option to complete an extra piece of coursework for which you can achieve a course distinction.
Course Outline:
- Week one: Pain mechanisms
- Week two: Chronic pain and psychology of pain.
- Week three: Pain assessment and outcome measures.
- Week four: Treatment approaches in pain rehabilitation.
- [Optional] Assignment
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this learn topic you should be able to:
- describe the most clinically significant pain mechanisms and their underlying neuroanatomy and neurophysiology.
- communicate with colleagues and patients why persistent pain occurs.
- select appropriate assessment techniques and outcomes measures for individuals with persistent pain.
- choose appropriate pain management approaches for an individual with pain.