Hennepin Healthcare receives state grant to address non-narcotic pain management

Hennepin Healthcare will make it easier for people to find non-narcotic pain management resources and will also offer a group medical visit model thanks to grants from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) as part of their Non-narcotic Pain Management Mapping and Demonstration Projects.

The first project will create the Non-Opioid Pain Alleviation Information Network (NO PAIN) that will identify and promote evidence-based pain management services and modalities in Minnesota that do not involve narcotics. This will include creation of a website to make it easier for people to find resources to help Minnesotans manage chronic pain without the use of narcotics. The project will also assess the barriers and facilitators to non-narcotic pain management.

“Our mapping work will provide an information resource for Minnesotans in pain,” said Dr. Arti Prasad, Chair of Internal Medicine at Hennepin Healthcare. “Specifically, we will provide statewide mapping of the comprehensive resources for non-narcotic pain management to equally empower patients and providers towards a path of ‘do no harm’ pain alleviation.” 

Program leadership will also use the grant to create a group medical visit model for non-narcotic pain management. The Hennepin Healthcare Interventional Pain Clinic will offer group care over a two-year period, where patients with chronic pain will work together using didactic learning through themed topics, active learning in mind-body integration, movement and practice, and healthy eating. Patients with chronic pain will participate in these cohort sessions and provide valuable feedback on the effectiveness of the intervention. The pilot program will be led by a clinician and an RN/wellness health coach who are passionate about integrative pain management strategies.

“We are thankful to the Minnesota Department of Health for granting us an opportunity to serve the State through these two projects that are antidotes to the ongoing opioid epidemic,” said Dr. Prasad. “Our work will demonstrate that pain management and healing are possible without narcotics if these therapeutic approaches are introduced early to prevent the pain from becoming chronic and opioid-dependent. Our mapping study and website will become an information resource for Minnesotans in pain.”

The project team is being led by Drs. Arti Prasad, Richard Printon, Katherine Shafto, and Ms. Sophie Kurschner.

For more information, go to: https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/opioids/mnresponse/nnpmgrant.html