Health committee  Yes, I do. First and foremost, I firmly believe that if the federal government officially recognized chronic pain as a disease, and also stated that it is a health priority in Canada, Canadians would listen and take the situation seriously. I believe that if there were funding

Health committee  I believe one of the keys to appropriate management is improved communication between the health care provider and the person living with pain. There are many tools that can be used to improve communication and have a better conversation. One of them would be a brief pain inven

Health committee  I would defer to Dr. Buckley as well. The importance of research into the effectiveness of pain management is key. With each study that is completed, we learn more and more about how different modalities will interact with one another and produce the best results. As I said, I

Health committee  Thank you. There is a great deal that can be done. The most important thing is to provide appropriate pain management, because once you have multidisciplinary pain care that you can access, once you know about your pain condition, once you're familiar with all of the coping stra

Health committee  Yes, I am.

Health committee  What I would like to finish with is that we need to utilize awareness programs and best practice guidelines, and consult with pain experts and addiction experts. We need a federal government-led initiative that would ensure uptake of these valuable resources and set the tone for

Health committee  Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, and esteemed committee members. This is the third time I have presented before this committee on pain issues, representing the Canadian Pain Coalition. The CPC is a partnership of people living with pain, pain organizations, health organizations, heal

Health committee  The strategy we have come up with will inform the provinces and help them create their own pain strategies within their health care systems. At present, British Columbia has a fairly active strategy and Quebec is coming along with the work it has done. But many of the other provi

Health committee  Yes, the best practice is the multi-disciplinary approach. Across Canada we have some multi-disciplinary pain clinics. However, the wait list for those clinics can be as much as three to five years and they don't serve enough individuals. So we would be looking to bring the commu

Health committee  Thank you very much. My story is really quite typical. I was injured 25 years ago, and I dealt with the health care system in my province of Ontario, which was not prepared to support me or my health care professionals with the necessary acute care management, which might have p

Health committee  Yes. I would like to thank you. I would like you to know that the Canadian Pain Coalition and the Canadian Pain Society have created the national pain strategy.

Health committee  Oh yes, I'm just about done.

Health committee  You caught us a little off guard there.

Health committee  Thank you, Madam Chair and committee, for inviting the Canadian Pain Coalition to speak about the issues of pain facing all Canadians and older people in Canada, and for, in your way, recognizing that chronic pain is a disease. One in five Canadians live with under-diagnosed, un