The National Academy of Medicine (NAM)’s Action Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic (Opioid Collaborative) announced the release of a new, interactive resource—called the Chronic Pain Journey Map—that visually illustrates the experiences of individuals living with chronic pain as they navigate treatment and care systems. To inform the development of the Journey Map, the Opioid Collaborative conducted surveys and a series of listening sessions with individuals living with pain and clinicians who treat pain to gather data and better understand the current state of chronic pain management.
The Journey Map identifies five key stages in the pain management journey that have critical touchpoints with the health system. Each stage of the journey is framed from the perspective of individuals with chronic pain and describes what works well, along with common challenges. Additionally, the Journey Map identifies actions that specific health care stakeholders, such as clinicians, health systems/payers, and chronic pain community organizations, can take to address these challenges and improve the pain management process. Each stage includes helpful resources to facilitate action across the pain management journey.
Most importantly, the Journey Map is a tool that can be used to not only identify critical gaps in chronic pain care, but also highlight opportunities to develop needed tools, resources, and/or initiatives to address those gaps and transform chronic pain management.
If taken up, the learnings from the Journey Map can be used to improve chronic pain care and ultimately lead to optimal quality of life for people with pain.
Visit the Action Collaborative’s website to learn more about the Action Collaborative, including its leadership, membership, activities, and sponsors, as well as to register for updates.
For questions, please contact: OpioidCollaborative@nas.edu
For media inquiries, please contact: Dana Korsen | DKorsen@nas.edu | 202-334-2843
