IMPACT pain management program
What is IMPACT?
IMPACT is a 7 week group program for people who are finding that chronic or persistent pain is interfering in their life, including their ability to work.
It is an intensive, cognitive-behavioural program with a strong educational focus aimed at self management of persistent pain.
Participants attend the program in groups of 8-10 and, while all people attending have persistent pain, the causes and sites of their pain will vary. Each participant will formulate a series of individual improvement aims for the program with support from the IMPACT staff to put these in place.
The program is broken into two stages
Stage 1 of IMPACT runs 9 am to 5 pm Monday to Thursday over 3 weeks on an out-patient basis with clients returning home in the evenings and on weekends. Local accommodation can also be arranged for those whom distance is an issue.
Stage 2 of the program is home based with participants putting the learned skills and strategies into place within their regular environment. All participants return for a review of their progress at the end of this period.
In addition to the review of progress at the end of stage 2, a second review with participants is organised for between 6-9 months after the IMPACT program.
The program is open to all residents of the North Coast Area Health Service, including Medicare and compensable patients.
IMPACT staff
The staff who work on the IMPACT program have had extensive experience in pain management. They include a Medical Pain Specialist, Clinical Psychologist, Physiotherapist and a Clinical Nurse Consultant.
The IMPACT focus
The Focus of the IMPACT program is not on the reduction of pain, but on improving the individual's level of functioning and their ability to cope with ongoing pain.
The areas focused on are:
Avoidance of activities - All group members participate in a graduated exercise and activity program with individually-relvant goals, designed to promote improved functioning.
Pain related distress - Participants receive training in reducing distress through active problem solving, challenging unhelpful beliefs and responses and using an applied desensitisation technique.
Unhelpful use of drugs - participants are assited with the gradual withdrawl from unhelpful drugs and pain related aids and these are replaced with pain self management strategies
Fluctuating activity levels - training in and supported practice of pacing and planning activities for a graded increase in activity levels.
Flare-ups in pain - planning for the management of pain flare ups using self-management techniques
Sleep management - training in self management techniques to improve sleeping habits without a reliance on sleeping medication
To undertake the IMPACT program, clients must be referred to the Multidisciplinary Pain Management Clinic by their doctor. All clients then undertake a full multidisciplinary assessment. This means they are individually assessed by a Medical Specialist, Clinical Psychologist and Physiotherapist and an individual treatment plan is formulated. This may include the IMPACT program or referral to more approriate services.