You make it possible for Children's Hospital Chronic Pain Management Program to spotlight equity in pain care as hosts of this year's Ontario Chronic Pain Network (OCPN) conference.
When the Paediatric Chronic Pain Management Program (PCPMP) saw an unmet need in 2021 for Indigenous children, Children’s Health Foundation’s generous donors made improving care possible!
Children’s chronic pain team noticed that they were seeing few Indigenous children in their clinic. After some investigation, the team discovered that Indigenous children’s pain was being missed and dismissed, causing them to be under-referred to the program.
A case study shared by the team highlighted the systemic problem clearly: One of the young Indigenous patients referred to Children’s paediatric chronic pain clinic had a family physician who was treating them for long-term pain far over the three-month chronic pain marker. However, it was only after a visit to the Emergency Department and strong advocacy by the parent, that a referral was made to the clinic.
The team knew these gaps needed to be addressed. It is donor gifts that helped make that happen.
With the support of generous donors, the pain team became the first Ontario paediatric program to apply the Two-Eyed Seeing approach to pain assessment and treatment– a Mi’kmaq phrase meaning to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous ways of knowing, and from the other eye with the strengths of Western ways of knowing and using both eyes together. An infusion of donor dollars meant the team could jump into action, creating a culturally informed assessment tool and treatment program that incorporated Indigenous culture, medicine and ceremonies, and acknowledged the impacts of intergenerational trauma.
With these ground-breaking tools made hand in hand with Elder Brenda Mason, an Indigenous Healer and the Cultural Competency, Spiritual Director & Cultural Safety Liaison – Northern Region representative, and Nicole Yawney, MSW, RSW, the first Indigenous Youth Wellness Consultant at Children’s Hospital, the pain team created a space for its equity work at Children’s Hospital.
Today, the paediatric pain program has grown into a provincial leader, with children’s hospitals across the country keen to learn about equity from our team, all thanks to Children’s Health Foundation support.
Continued gifts helped fund the pain team’s most recent opportunity – hosting this year’s Ontario Chronic Pain Network (OCPN) conference. The October conference is a cherished opportunity to showcase and share their work. Our generous community ensures that our pain team can forefront presentations related to providing health care for marginalized and racialized populations and facilitating access and clinical care for these children and families.
The team also arranged a talk specifically about Indigenous experience with health care systems, the use of nature and art as healing tools, all aspects of the Two-Eyed Seeing Approach and lead the audience in a healing nature walk.
Community-minded investment has helped the Paediatric Chronic Pain Management Program (PCPMP) grow to where they are today – sharing their expertise to help children in hospitals across the country!
We are so proud of our Children’s Health Foundation donors for funding the paediatric pain team’s clinical and research equitable care initiatives since 2021.
The paediatric pain team just marked ten years of providing the best paediatric pain care at Children’s Hospital and celebrated by hosting Ontario’s Paediatric Pain community right here in London, Ontario — which your donations made possible!
