Introduction
The Pain Education Toolkit provides pain management education for people receiving services on how they can improve their health and better manage their pain. These very helpful tools can be used in peer support. These videos demonstrate how a peer support specialist can introduce the Pain Education Toolkit resources. The more we understand pain, the more we can change it — for the better!
Peer Support and Sleep
Peer support specialists can play an important role in supporting people living with pain across the Pain Education Toolkit’s eight topics. Since most people with pain have problems sleeping, sleep is a great place to start. This video demonstrates how to introduce and identify a self-directed topic from the Pain Education Toolkit handouts and videos. In this scenario, a peer support specialist has been working with a peer who has goals to reducing their pain but is unsure of how to start. Notice how the peer support specialist facilitates the discussion about sleep goals, using her personal experience.
Sleep Handout
This handout highlights key points of the Pain Education Toolkit Sleep video. After you have watched the Sleep video, this handout can be used to help set personal goals on improving your sleep on page two of this handout. This handout can also be a very useful resource for the peers you work with. These goals can be shared with healthcare teams, peer support specialists, or other supporters.
Resources
Peer Support and Medications
Many peers have questions and concerns about medications. This can be a stressful conversation for peer support specialists. In this scenario, a peer support specialist has been working with a peer who comes to their meeting concerned that a taper means that her doctor will be cutting her off from opioids. The peer support specialist shares information, resources, lived experience, and hope – all in a nonjudgmental, compassionate manner and in keeping with the peer support role.
Medications Handout
This handout highlights key points of the Pain Education Toolkit Medications video. After you have watched the video, you can read about the use and risks of common pain medications and opioids on page two of this handout. On page three, read about the common uses and side effects. As you saw in the Peer Support and Medications video, this helpful handout can also be used alongside the peers you are supporting.
