New Brief on What People Living with Chronic Pain Want Doctors to Know

A new issue brief has been released entitled "What I Want my Doctor to Know About How Arthritis and Chronic Pain Affect My Everyday Life" under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR).

Based on interviews conducted with people living with a disability due to arthritis, who are on long-term opioids or have stopped taking opioids after developing opioid use disorder (OUD), results from the interviews suggest individuals want their doctors to:

Talk with them in detail about how they can treat chronic pain and improve function;
Treat the whole person, thinking beyond their health condition;
Describe what happens if medication does not control their pain or improve function;
Explain the signs and symptoms of OUD and the treatment plan should they develop OUD; and
Outline other options for managing pain if they develop OUD and cannot take opioids anymore.