Patient and Support Person Satisfaction Following a Whole Health-Informed Interdisciplinary Pain Team Meeting

Abstract

Background: About 65% of veterans report chronic pain in the last 3 months. Whole health is a team-based approach to health care that emphasizes proactive and patient-centered care. This mixed-methods study sought to determine the patient and support person experience of meeting simultaneously with a whole health pain interdisciplinary team.

Methods: Self-reported satisfaction from a program-specific survey was collected from veterans and support persons at the Salem Veterans Affairs Healthcare System (SVAHCS) following a meeting with an interdisciplinary pain team that included interventional pain, psychology, physical therapy, pharmacy, and nutrition health care professionals.

Results: The survey was completed by 32 support persons and 144 veterans. Twenty percent reported dissatisfaction with previous pain care at SVAHCS. The mean overall satisfaction with the pain interdisciplinary team was 9.2 on a 10-point scale, and all respondents reported that they would recommend the experience.

Conclusions: Patients meeting simultaneously with all interdisciplinary team pain care members may be an efficient model of pain care with high patient satisfaction for rural veterans who tend to experience significant barriers to care. Future studies of these simultaneous meetings with pain interdisciplinary teams may be warranted.