. 2022 Jan 11;6(1):1-11.

doi: 10.1080/24740527.2021.2004103. eCollection 2022.

Development of a national pain management competency profile to guide entry-level physiotherapy education in Canada

Nathan Augeard¹, Geoff Bostick², Jordan Miller³, David Walton⁴, Yannick Tousignant-Laflamme⁵, Anne Hudon⁶, André Bussières¹, Lynn Cooper⁷, Nicol McNiven⁸, Aliki Thomas¹, Lesley Singer¹, Scott M Fishman⁹, Marie H Bement¹⁰, Julia M Hush¹¹, Kathleen A Sluka¹², Judy Watt-Watson¹³, Lisa C Carlesso¹⁴, Sinead Dufour¹⁴, Roland Fletcher¹⁵, Katherine Harman¹⁶, Judith Hunter¹⁷, Suzy Ngomo¹⁸, Neil Pearson¹⁵, Kadija Perreault¹⁹, Barbara Shay²⁰, Peter Stilwell¹, Susan Tupper²¹, Timothy H Wideman¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
² Department of Physical Therapy, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
³ School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
⁴ School of Physical Therapy, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
⁵ School of Rehabilitation, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada.
⁶ School of Rehabilitation, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
⁷ Canadian Injured Workers Alliance, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
⁸ Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
⁹ Davis School of Medicine, University of California, Sacramento, California, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Physical Therapy, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
¹¹ Department of Health Professions, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
¹² Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
¹³ Lawrence S Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁴ School of Rehabilitation Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁵ Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
¹⁶ School of Physiotherapy, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
¹⁷ Department of Physical Therapy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁸ Department of Health Science, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada.
¹⁹ Department of Rehabilitation Science, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Québec City, Quebec, Canada.
²⁰ Department of Physical Therapy, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
²¹ School of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

PMID: 35036823
PMCID: PMC8757473
DOI: 10.1080/24740527.2021.2004103

Development of a national pain management competency profile to guide entry-level physiotherapy education in Canada

Nathan Augeard et al. Can J Pain. 2022.

. 2022 Jan 11;6(1):1-11.

doi: 10.1080/24740527.2021.2004103. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
² Department of Physical Therapy, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
³ School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
⁴ School of Physical Therapy, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
⁵ School of Rehabilitation, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada.
⁶ School of Rehabilitation, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
⁷ Canadian Injured Workers Alliance, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
⁸ Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
⁹ Davis School of Medicine, University of California, Sacramento, California, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Physical Therapy, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
¹¹ Department of Health Professions, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
¹² Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
¹³ Lawrence S Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁴ School of Rehabilitation Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁵ Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
¹⁶ School of Physiotherapy, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
¹⁷ Department of Physical Therapy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁸ Department of Health Science, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada.
¹⁹ Department of Rehabilitation Science, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Québec City, Quebec, Canada.
²⁰ Department of Physical Therapy, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
²¹ School of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

PMID: 35036823
PMCID: PMC8757473
DOI: 10.1080/24740527.2021.2004103

Abstract
in English, French

Background: National strategies from North America call for substantive improvements in entry-level pain management education to help reduce the burden of chronic pain. Past work has generated a valuable set of interprofessional pain management competencies to guide the education of future health professionals. However, there has been very limited work that has explored the development of such competencies for individual professions in different regions. Developing profession-specific competencies tailored to the local context is a necessary first step to integrate them within local regulatory systems. Our group is working toward this goal within the context of entry-level physiotherapy (PT) programs across Canada.

Aims: This study aimed to create a consensus-based competency profile for pain management, specific to the Canadian PT context.

Methods: A modified Delphi design was used to achieve consensus across Canadian university-based and clinical pain educators.

Results: Representatives from 14 entry-level PT programs (93% of Canadian programs) and six clinical educators were recruited. After two rounds, a total of 15 competencies reached the predetermined endorsement threshold (75%). Most participants (85%) reported being "very satisfied" with the process.

Conclusions: This process achieved consensus on a novel pain management competency profile specific to the Canadian PT context. The resulting profile delineates the necessary abilities required by physiotherapists to manage pain upon entry to practice. Participants were very satisfied with the process. This study also contributes to the emerging literature on integrated research in pain management by profiling research methodology that can be used to inform related work in other health professions and regions.

Contexte: Contexte: Les stratégies nationales nord-américaines préconisent des améliorations sensibles à la formation de base en matiére de prise en charge de la douleur afin de contribuer à la réduction du fardeau de la douleur chronique. Des travaux antérieurs ont généré un ensemble de compétences interprofessionnelles utile en matiére de prise en charge de la douleur afin de guider la formation des futurs professionnels de la santé. Cependant, trés peu de travaux ont porté sur l'acquisition de telles compétences pour des professions individuelles dans différentes régions. L’uisition de compétences spécifiques à une profession adaptées au contexte local est une première étape nécessaire pour leur intégration dans les systèmes réglementaires locaux. Notre groupe travaille à cet objectif dans le cadre de programmes de formation de base en physiothèrapie partout au Canada.Objectifs: Cette étude visait à créer un profil de compétences consensuel pour la prise en charge de la douleur, propre au contexte canadien de la physiothérapie.Méthodes: Un devis Delphi modifié a étè utilisé pour parvenir à un consensus parmi des formateurs en milieu universitaire et clinique en matière de douleur en milieu universitaire et clinique.Résultats: Des représentants de 14 programmes de formation de base en physiothérapie (93 % des programmes canadiens) et de six formateurs en milieu clinique ont été recrutés. Après deux tours, 15 compétences ont atteint le seuil d’approbation prédéterminé (75 %). La plupart des participants (85 %) ont déclaré être « très satisfaits »du processus.Conclusions: Ce processus a permis de dégager un consensus sur un nouveau profil de compétences en matiére de prise en charge de la douleur propre au contexte canadien de la physiothérapie. Ce profil délimite les habiletés requises des physiothérapeutes pour prendre en charge la douleur en début de pratique. Les participants ont été très satisfaits du processus. Cette étude contribue également à la littérature émergente sur la recherche intégrée en matière de prise en charge de la douleur en définissant une méthodologie de recherche qui peut être utilisée pour éclairer des travaux similaires dans d’autres professions de la santé et dans d’autres régions.

Keywords: competency profile; knowledge translation; pain management; participatory research; physiotherapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The nature of participatory research is that stakeholders are participants and are expected to have investments in the area researched; this investment is part of the research process. Consistent with this approach to research, the majority of the authors are university lecturers or professors focusing on pain education and receive a salary for this work. In addition, the following authors report financial compensation and/or royalties related to their work in pain education outside of their academic positions: DW, YTL, LS, MHB, RF, NP, and TW.

Figures

**Figure 1.**
Overview of modified Delphi process. This figure provides an overview of the different steps involved in our modified Delphi process.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

1. Canadian Pain Task Force . Chronic pain in Canada: laying a foundation for action. Government of Canada; 2019. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/corporate/about-health-canada/pub....
1. The National Institutes of Health . National pain strategy - a comprehensive population health-level strategy for pain. The National Institutes of Health; 2016.
1. National Academies of Sciences . The national academies collection: reports funded by national institutes of health. In: Stroud C, Posey Norris SM, Bain L, editors. The role of nonpharmacological approaches to pain management: proceedings of a workshop. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US). - PubMed
1. Watt-Watson J, McGillion M, Hunter J, Choiniere M, Clark AJ, Dewar A, Johnston C, Lynch M, Morley-Forster P, Moulin D, et al. A survey of prelicensure pain curricula in health science faculties in Canadian universities. Pain Res Manage. 2009;14(6):439–44. doi: 10.1155/2009/307932. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
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Development of a national pain management competency profile to guide entry-level physiotherapy education in Canada

Affiliations

Development of a national pain management competency profile to guide entry-level physiotherapy education in Canada

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract
in English, French

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Miscellaneous

Abstract in English, French

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Miscellaneous

Abstract
in English, French