Welcome to the Behavioral Pain Management Team Website!
Want to learn more about our behavioral health integration study in Alabama's federally qualified health centers? Click here to contact us! As head of the UA Pain Management Team (PMT) and on behalf of all its members, I'd like to welcome you to the PMT web page! In these pages, you will find information about the people, projects, and products of this special, energetic, and motivated group of people.
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2016 American Pain Society: Austin, Texas
New Factors to Measure Pain Catastrophizing
The long-established 'Pain Catastrophizing Scale' takes magnification, rumination and helplessness into account. Researchers at the University of Alabama considered additional measures of negative cognition associated with pain to reach a 'global catastrophizing measure'. In this clip, Ben Van Dyke and Beverly Thorn of the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL. discuss this measure discuss this measure at the recently-held American Pain society Meeting in Austin, Texas. |
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Critical Value of Psychosocial Care in Chronic Pain Management.
University of Alabama researchers use a psychosocial approach to the management of pain, by instructing patients to leverage their thoughts and feelings to improve their pain experience, and by establishing a relationship of trust between the patient and their healthcare provider. In this clip, Calia Torres and Beverly Thorn of the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL. discuss this approach at the recently-held American Pain Society Meeting in Austin, Texas. Factors Predicting Pain Intensity Level, Interference of Pain, and Perceived Disability.
Psychosocial variables can help predict pain levels in patients with mixed chronic pain conditions and similar demographics and socioeconomic backgrounds. In this clip, Jacob Baxter, and Beverly Thorn of the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Al. discuss data presented at the American Pain Society Meeting in Austin, Texas on 300 patients with chronic pain who were treated at low-income clinics in Alabama. Learn more about this issue here. Lab News!
08/2015- Brian Anderson, Psy.D. and Meneka Johnson, Ph.D. join the pain lab to assist with the PCORI grants. They are taking over for Doctors Joshua Eyers, Collete DeMonte, and William Demonte who have each taken on other positions elsewhere.
04/2015- Shweta Kapoor successfully defended her Dissertation "Perceived Stigma, Illness Invalidation, Sleep Difficulties, and Psychological Distress in Emerging Adults in College with Persistent Pain." 3/2015- Our long time Research Assistant Jane Smith was accepted into a PhD for Clinical Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University. 2/2015- Congratulations to Julie Cunningham on matching for her internship at Geisinger Health System! 12/2014- Previous lab member Mel Day has accepted a new position at The University of Queensland's School of Psychology. 12/2014- Ben Van Dyke successfully defended his Master's Thesis. Congratulations for your hard work! 08/2014- Thanks to some hard work Beverly Thorn and Colette DeMonte were given a Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award to assess behavioral health integration in Alabama's federally qualified health centers. They will be using this to help pave the way for sustainable behavioral health integration in the future. Congratulations! 08/2014- Congratulations to Julie Cunningham as she successfully defended her dissertation "The Role of Pain Catastrophizing, Body Mass Index, and Sex in Exercise Rates Among Participants in an Organizational Wellness Program." 08/2014- Phoebe Block successfully defended her Master's thesis: Pain Catastrophizing, Rather Than Vital Signs, Associated with Pain Intensity in Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department for Acute Pain. Way to go! 04/2014- Another congratulations is in order for Calia Torres! She has received seed funding from the Center for Community-Based Partnerships in order to run Spanish-adapted pain management groups. The lab is really excited for the work she will be doing for the Spanish-speaking communities. 04/2014- Our very own Dr. Beverly Thorn was this years Psychology Department's Distinguished Faculty Recipient. This is a well-deserved award and we cannot think of anybody to receive this honor. 3/12/2014- Congratulations to Calia Torres, who received the Michael Sullivan Diversity Scholarship Fund. This fund is awarded by the Ohio Psychological Association which supports graduate level research and training related to diversity and inclusion. Calia plans to use this award for her thesis project. For her project, she is conducting focus groups with Spanish-speaking patients who have chronic pain. 2/24/14- Previous lab members, Mel Day and Anna Smitherman have accepted two great positions. Mel will be an Assistant Professor at Australian Catholic University and Anna has a post doc fellowship at San Antonio V.A. Congrats and good luck to you both! 2/21/14- We are pleased to announce that our graduate students, Shweta Kapoor and Martha Combs, successfully matched for internship for the 2014-2015 year. Martha will be moving to Gainsville for her position at University of Florida and Shweta will be moving to Atlanta for her position at Emory. Congratulations! |
2016 - Dr. Thorn discusses her ongoing projects within the college of Arts and Sciences!
2015 - What people are saying about the PMT!
2014 - November 4. Dr. Thorn and her literacy adaptation study were profiled on the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) website.2013
November 4--- Dr. Thorn has been named to the National Pain Strategy Working Group, sponsored by the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (IPRCC) and the National Institutes of Health. The IPRCC is charged with creating a comprehensive, population health level strategy for pain prevention, treatment, management, education, and research, as recommended in the IOM Report: Relieving Pain in America . Dr. Thorn will participate in the Public Health: Care, Prevention, and Disparities group. Learn more at http://iprcc.nih.gov/National_Pain_Strategy/oversight_panel.htm
April 29 --- Dr. Thorn was interviewed for an article about managing comorbid chronic pain and depression for PsychCentral.com.
http://psychcentral.com/lib/2013/living-with-chronic-pain-and-depression/ April 16 --- The College of Arts & Sciences posted a write-up about the grant received by the UA Pain Management Team!
http://www.as.ua.edu/home/news/college-psychologists-seek-to-reduce-literacy-barriers-in-treating-managing-pain/ April 12 --- WVUA-TV 10:00 News ran an interview with Dr. Thorn and Dr. Eyer that described the new grant and Dr. Thorn's research program.
April 8 --- Articles are released in The Crimson White and the Dialog announcing the receipt of the PCORI funding for the "Reducing Disparities with Literacy-Adapted Psychosocial Treatments for Chronic Pain: A Comparative Trial."
The Crimson White: http://cw.ua.edu/2013/04/08/ua-awarded-research-grant-to-study-chronic-pain-management/ The Dialog (April 8th, 2013): http://dialog.ua.edu/2013/04/accolades-for-april-8-2013/ |
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