Description

Frequent does not mean trivial and simple does not mean easy!  Says Dr. Chris Eccleston, PhD, director Center for Pain and Research at the University of Bath.

A primary goal of medicine is to relieve pain and suffering. Sadly though, this is poorly achieved, especially when it comes to pediatric patients, despite ample evidence for the detrimental longitudinal effects of poorly managed pain in kids. Children's pain should also be prioritized, yet why is is so hard to do that? How then do we make pediatric pain matter, visible, understood and better?

In this episode, Dr Eccleston joins us to talk about how we can deliver transformative action in pediatric pain and make it matter.

Dr. Chris is a Professor of Pain Science at the University of Bath in the UK, and he runs the Center for Pain and Research at the university. His contributions to clinical and research aspects of pediatric pain medicine  are immense. He has extensively written and published scientific and educational articles and stories that help the reader think from a new perspective.

And today, we're discussing the paper/commission he wrote for the Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, including the behind the scenes story of that commission, and what inspired them to write it!

Takeaways In This Episode:

• How Dr. Eccleston got interested in pediatric pain management
• Reasons why for pediatric pain or chronic pain in general does not get acknowledged and therefore not addressed
• Factors that contribute to sustained conversations and attention to an issue.
• Why we may have a propensity to diminish others' pain
• The starting point for making improvements to pediatric pain.
• Discussion about the Lancet Commission paper on pediatric pain and what inspired Dr. Eccleston to write this about pediatric pain
• How we deliver transformative action in pediatric pain
• The 4 transformative goals 
• What does equity  mean when it comes to pain and how must we work on making it an important issue
• What to expect from this Lancet Commission article and what Dr Eccleston's hopes are.
• Dr Eccleston' advice for healthcare professionals, the importance of serendipity, community and connection

Links

Christopher Eccleston PhD

The Lancet Commission - Delivering Transformative Action in Pediatric Pain

Center for Pain Research

FREE Clinicians' Pain Evaluation Toolkit

Proactive Pain Solutions

About the Author

Christopher Eccleston PhD

Christopher Eccleston PhD is a Professor of Pain Science at the University of Bath in the UK and the Director of the multidisciplinary centre for pain research.

His work has been focused on evidence based pain management, therapy development, technology innovation, and behavioral science.  He has authored over 280 peer reviewed scientific publications and 3 books in the general field of pain, interoception, evidence based medicine, pain management, and digital therapeutics.

He was awarded the British Pain Society Medal in 2012, the Pain Champion Award for Contributions to European Pain Policy from the European Pain Federation in 2018, and the 'Ronald Melzack' award for pain science from the International Association for the Study of Pain in 2018.

He has chaired the University of Bath ethics and integrity committee (2018-) , and have held key editorial positions as a senior editor in Cochrane (2010-2020), and as the field editor for psychology in the journal PAIN (2010-2020). 

His work is rooted in his beliefs;

"I aim to put the body back into psychology and psychology back into medicine. I'm interested in ensuring that the science we do is rigorous, and that integrity is assured in research and publication practice."