Building Capability for Better Pain Care
By Dr Simone De Morgan and Professor Fiona Blyth Chronic pain affects around one in five Australians and is one of the most common reasons people seek healthcare. Its impacts extend well beyond physical symptoms, influencing mental health, employment, relationships and quality of life. As the burden of chronic pain continues to grow, an important […]
When one plus one doesn’t equal two
By Professor Helen Slater For a young person living with both chronic pain and a mental health condition, the impact is not simply two separate problems. Together, they can create a cumulative load affecting education, relationships, family life, participation and overall wellbeing. Yet pain and mental health care are often delivered separately. This can leave […]
Early identification, better recovery: What the WISE study teaches us about workplace rehabilitation
Recovery following a musculoskeletal injury is shaped by more than the injury itself. Psychological, social and workplace factors including distress, low confidence, unhelpful beliefs about pain, workplace challenges and fear of further injury, can influence a person’s recovery and return to work. For workplace rehabilitation professionals, this raises an important question: how can we identify […]
Introducing OPEN’s Education and Research Advisory Committee
OPEN has established a new Education and Research Advisory Committee, bringing together leaders from across pain care, education, research and lived experience to help guide the next phase of our work. Established by the OPEN Board, the Committee will provide independent expert advice to support the ongoing quality, integrity and relevance of OPEN’s education and […]
OPEN Welcomes the Launch of the Australian Standards for Health Practitioner Pain Management Education
Congratulations to the Faculty of Pain Medicine (ANZCA) on the launch of the Australian Standards for Health Practitioner Pain Management Education—an important milestone in strengthening pain education across Australia’s healthcare workforce. OPEN CEO Joyce McSwan joined leaders from across the pain sector in Canberra to celebrate the launch and participate in discussions about the future of pain education in Australia. […]
OPENing Up Pain Education To All
This article was originally published by the Australian Physiotherapy Association and has been republished with permission. PAIN EDUCATION The APA has recently made the Online Pain Education Network’s Clinical Pain Management Training Program a prerequisite for its foundation pain physiotherapy courses. The Online Pain Education Network, or OPEN, provides pain management education to clinicians and health […]
Tools and Resources
Your comprehensive hub for clinical and consumer pain resources.
Keeping the Person at the Centre of Pain Care: “Listen to me, learn from me” and what this means for us as clinicians by Prof. Helen Slater
Professor Helen Slater is a Clinical Researcher and Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist at Curtin University (School of Allied Health) As clinicians, we want to help people experiencing pain, and apply well, what we’ve been trained to do. Yet, pausing and reflecting on clinical encounters with people living with chronic pain, there’s often a quiet tension: we […]
The Pain Care Priorities Framework — Practical Reference Guide
Pain Care Priorities offer a structured way to ensure that what matters most to the person living with pain remains central to care. They support clinicians in considering: This guide provides a visual overview of the Pain Care Priorities framework, along with reflection prompts to support everyday clinical conversations. Download below for a concise reference […]
Pain Care Priorities in Practice
Pain care isn’t only about identifying symptoms. It’s about understanding how pain is affecting the person experiencing it — their function, relationships, confidence, and daily life. When those broader impacts aren’t explored, important aspects of care can be missed. In this short educational video, Dr Duncan Sanders explores the thinking behind Pain Care Priorities and […]