When pain persists: meeting the challenges of opioid prescribing for patients with moderate to severe chronic non-cancer pain – QI&CPD – Category 2

After participating in this program, participants will be better able to:

1. Identify multimodal pain management strategies, including both non-pharmacological and pharmacological approaches
2. Recall and use clinician assessment and monitoring tools, the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), the Opioid Risk Tool (ORT), the Diagnosis, Intractability, Risk and Efficacy (DIRE) score, the PainDETECT questionnaire and the universal precautions of pain medicine to assist in the appropriate use of opioids
3. Recognise that while opioids are indicated for the treatment of moderate to severe chronic non-cancer pain, individual patients will respond differently and that a cautious and selective approach is needed when managing these patients.
4. Communicate to patients the common and significant side effects associated with short- and long-term opioid therapy, and provide practical tips to help manage these side effects.