Date: 11 July,
Time: 6 - 7.30pm,
Venue: St David's Lecture Theatre or Online at https://otago.zoom.us/j/326254470
Persistent Pain in children and adolescence is a significant health burden on family and society. It interferes with participation in schooling, sport/leisure activities, and relationship with peers; potentially leading to social isolation and/or loneliness. Research shows that a significant proportion of adolescents report pain and the rates of pain rise steeply from childhood to adolescence.
There is a potential risk of developing chronic pain into adulthood. The range of factors that are linked to persistent pain in children and young people include bodily illness, family support, mental health, sleep and behavioural problems.
This panel discussion will highlight recent research in this area and discuss the best treatment approaches, encompassing the holistic experience of pain, for providing support to enhance function, despite having pain.
This panel session is proudly part of the New Zealand International Science Festival www.scifest.org.nz
Programme
30 minutes involves short presentations (max 10 min) by the speakers followed by 45 minutes of discussion moderated by the chair.
- Musculoskeletal pain in children and teens: what we know? (Associate Professor Steve Kamper, Lead-paediatric pain theme in the Musculoskeletal Health Sydney research group, School of Public health, University of Sydney, Australia)
- Clinical services offered by the inter-disciplinary team, and the current challenges in care. (Dr Ross Drake, Director, acute and chronic paediatric pain service, Auckland Starship Hospital, Auckland.)
- Influencing sleep, physical activity and diet among children for optimal health outcomes (Professor Rachael Taylor, University of Otago and member of A better start- New Zealand national Science Challenges)
- Experiences and reflections of carers and young people living with chronic pain (written reflections will be moderated by the chair)
- Community services
Questions via Zoom will be moderated by the chair.
Speakers
Panel chair : Dr Bronnie Thompson (Pain@Otago Steering committee member)
Bronnie is a Senior Lecturer and Academic Coordinator for Postgraduate Programmes in Pain and Pain Management, University of Otago, Christchurch. She has worked in persistent pain management for most of her clinical career, started teaching 14 years ago, and completed her PhD in 2015. Her interests are in building resilience in persistent pain, using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for persistent pain, clinical reasoning, and social media for knowledge translation.
Associate Professor Steve Kamper (University of Sydney)
Steve Kamper is a former environmental scientist and physiotherapist, and via a few detours is now a health researcher. He works in the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney where he leads a program of research on pain in children and adolescents. Steve is particularly interested in where pain fits in the picture of health generally. Our society is, rightly, concerned about things like obesity, physical inactivity, mental health and substance use in children, but what, if any, part does pain play in this story? This question has given birth to a search for what we know about pain in children, and numerous studies that fill Steve's day at work, he has published his research in more than 100 journal articles and presented across the world.
Dr Ross Drake (Starship Hospital)
Ross is a Paediatric Pain Medicine and Palliative Care Specialist at Starship Hospital.The Complex Pain Service at Starship consists of a paediatric pain medicine & palliative care specialist, consultant anaesthetist & pain specialist, child psychologist, child psychiatrist, physiotherapy services, pain nurse specialists and support for administration. The service provides outpatient care to children and teenagers with complex pain.
Professor Rachael Taylor (University of Otago)
Professor Rachael Taylor is the Karitane Fellow in Early Childhood Obesity. Rachael is also Deputy Head of the Department of Medicine and Director of the Edgar Diabetes and Obesity Research Centre, one of the University's flagship Research Centres.