A Patient's Perspective: Pain After Surgery-FREE NO CME-SHARP A Patient's Perspective (720p HD)

Video Transcription

Video Summary

Amanda Donlan introduces COMPASS-SHARP’s first “Lunch and Learn,” outlining goals to reduce unnecessary opioid prescribing, expand non-opioid pain strategies, tailor patient education, and track prescribing data. She previews program supports (consultants, physician experts, pharmacists, patient/family advisors) and upcoming educational offerings.<br /><br />Guest speaker Tom Bowen shares his chronic pain journey beginning after an unplanned 2009 surgery; subsequent procedures and escalating symptoms led him to interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation at Mayo Clinic, where he learned self-management, reframed his relationship with pain, and discontinued opioids. After later complications and a fibromyalgia diagnosis, he returned to Mayo for a “reset” and eventually became a chronic pain educator and advocate.<br /><br />Bowen presents five messages for healthcare professionals: (1) See the person—not a diagnosis—acknowledging pain’s biopsychosocial nature. (2) Listen deeply to build trust; use reflective, open-ended questions. (3) Use compassionate, non-alarming language; avoid stigmatizing phrases and offer helpful metaphors. (4) Teach active self-management strategies before and after surgery. (5) Help patients make sense of the transition from acute to chronic pain through pain neuroscience education, realistic hope, cautious use of invasive procedures, and referrals to interdisciplinary pain rehab.<br /><br />In Q&A, Bowen says he wished his surgical team had warned chronic pain was possible and that someone had named “chronic pain” earlier to prevent years of searching for a cure.

Keywords

COMPASS-SHARP

opioid prescribing reduction

non-opioid pain management

interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation

chronic pain self-management

pain neuroscience education

patient-centered communication