APMA was very pleased with the success of a series of seminars held in early June featuring Pete Moore – a person with pain, author and peer health educator. As well as being a co-author of the Pain Toolkit, Pete has worked for many years as a trainer with the UK Expert Patient Program – as well as spreading the word about the benefits and means to self-manage pain and other chronic diseases around the world. Read more about Pete.

The seminars were entitled ‘From Patients to Partners: Self-management lessons from the UK’ and were well attended, particularly by health practitioners looking for assistance with motivating patients to become active partners in the self-management of their pain. APMA has received many requests for further seminars and training, including Pain Toolkit training, and is exploring with Pete a further wider Australian tour.

Some of the almost 100 people in attendance in Brisbane are shown in the photo contributing ideas as part of the ‘problem-solving’ section of the presentation. Local Member of Parliament and general practitioner Dr Alex Douglas MP chaired the Gold Coast seminar, and said afterwards: “There are strong trends that are shown to be successful involving the greater use of self-management techniques for patients with chronic pain. Chronic pain in Australia costs $30 billion to the taxpayers. It requires a serious approach."

In Brisbane, where the seminar was supported by Fortus Health, MC and specialist musculoskeletal physiotherapist Mary-Ann Litchfield said after the seminar: “Pete’s personal insight into persistent pain and no-nonsense approach to self -management was motivating. His message for collaborative care was equally significant for patients as for health professionals. I will certainly be using some of his analogies when talking to my patients in the future.”

Please let us know if you (or your employer for health practitioners) are interested in being kept informed of future plans to conduct further Pain Tool Kit and self-management training by emailing secretary.apma@bigpond.com or using the APMA website contact facility at http://painmanagement.org.au/contact.