What is it?
The Innervate Pain Program is an intensive, cognitive behavioural program which teaches active coping skills for improving quality of life despite persistent pain.

Who is it for?
Anyone who has had pain on a persistent basis for more than six months which is interfering with their ability to carry out their normal activities e.g. working, socialising, doing housework, hobbies and so on.

What it isn't:
The Innervate Pain Program isn’t a cure for pain (as much as we would like it to be!). There is no "hands-on" treatment (such as massage or traction), and it is definitely not for people who don’t want to change. Returning to work or improving work functioning must be goals for all participants on the program who are funded by the Workers Compensation system.

What is involved?
Participants attend the program in groups of no more than 10. The course runs for three days per week (Tuesday, Thursday and Friday), from 9am to 5pm, over four weeks (12 days in total). Although this is a long day, there are lots of breaks and opportunities to change position during the day. After the program itself finishes, we closely monitor participants' progress for the next 12 months, to ensure that they are continuing to put the strategies they have learned into practice.

Who is involved?
The Innervate Pain Team consists of clinical psychologists, physiotherapists, exercise physiologist, nurse-rehabilitation counselor and three medical specialists with expertise in chronic pain (see staff profiles). We also have input from an employment placement consultant who specialises in injured workers, and a volunteer coordinator.

What are the aims of the program? Participants in the Innervate Pain Program should expect to see positive changes in a number of different areas of their lives, including:

• Increased strength, flexibility and fitness
• Improvements in daily activities such as standing, walking, sitting, lifting, typing and so on
• A significant reduction in the use of pain medications, a decreased reliance upon passive treatments (hydrotherapy, massage) and a decrease in the use of aids such as walking sticks, back supports, braces and so on
• Improvements in mood (less depression, less anxiety, greater self-confidence in the ability to manage pain)

• Improvement in relationships with partner, family members, work colleagues and others in the social environment

Not all of these changes will occur in the first four weeks, but as with any health regime (e.g. new diet, exercise program), with time and practise the results get better.

What about work?
Research clearly indicates that individuals with chronic pain who work are physically and mentally better off than those who don't work because of their pain (e.g. Kuijer et al. 2006 ). Research also shows that most people in Australia who suffer from chronic pain are also employed (Blyth et al. 2001). Therefore, although getting back to work with pain is often a challenge, the evidence strongly indicates that it is important and therefore we make returning to work a key objective of the program.

What is a typical day on the program?
The table underneath shows you what participants on the Innervate Pain Program do on a normal day. Each day involves exercise, stretching, reconditioning techniques and information about chronic pain, and there is a progression throughout the program as you become more confident with the methods. The exercises, stretches and reconditioning methods are designed so that participants continue to carry them out at home or work on the days when they are not attending the program.

Friday

9.00: Group activity - dealing with pain flares

9.45: Stretch session

10.15: Calming techniques

Morning tea

11.00: Exercise session

12.00: Pain management skills: how to recondition tolerances for sitting, standing and walking

Lunch

14.00: Exercise session

15.00: Education session: what is pain and why does it persist?

16.00: Individual feedback session

Review of the day

Homework
Stretches X 3 daily
Exercises once daily
Calming exercises for sleep
Medication reduction plan
Set goals for next 2 weeks of program

Family members:
We recognise that although you might be the person who is experiencing the pain, it is likely to be affecting all of those around you. Therefore, we have one day specifically devoted to including family members in the program. The Communication Day is the entire Friday of week 3, where participants and their partners or family members will have an opportunity to review how they manage the pain as a family, and to look at more beneficial ways of doing things.

How do I know it will benefit me?
At Innervate Pain Management, we monitor our results very closely and our data shows that participants can make significant improvements in a range of different areas of their lives. The Innervate Pain Program Outcomes page shows some of the changes that participants have made as a result of taking part in the course.