ABSTRACT
Presents a narrative recounting the experience of a physician seeing a patient while wearing personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
ABSTRACT
A space can be sacred, providing those who inhabit a particular space with sense of transcendence-being connected to something greater than oneself. The sacredness may be inherent in the space, as for a religious institution or a serene place outdoors. Alternatively, a space may be made sacred by the people within it and events that occur there. As medical providers, we have the opportunity to create sacred space in our examination rooms and with our patient interactions. This sacred space can be healing to our patients and can bring us providers opportunities for increased connection, joy, and gratitude in our daily work.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Given the public health crisis of opioid overprescribing for pain, there is a need for evidence-based non pharmacological treatment options that effectively reduce pain and depression. We aim to examine the effectiveness of the Integrative Medical Group Visits (IMGV) model in reducing chronic pain and depressive symptoms, as well as increasing pain self-management. METHODS: This paper details the study design and implementation of an ongoing randomized controlled trial of the IMGV model as compared to primary care visits. The research aims to determine if the IMGV model is effective in achieving: a) a reduction in self-reported pain and depressive symptoms and 2) an improvement in the self-management of pain, through increasing pain self-efficacy and reducing use of self-reported pain medication. We intend to recruit 154 participants to be randomized in our intervention, the IMGV model (n=77) and to usual care (n=77). CONCLUSIONS: Usual care of chronic pain through pharmacological treatment has mixed evidence of efficacy and may not improve quality of life or functional status. We aim to conduct a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of the IMGV model as compared to usual care in reducing self-reported pain and depressive symptoms as well as increasing pain management skills.