The Community College of Rhode Island’s Health Sciences department will host the Changing the Culture of Pain Treatment Symposium on Saturday, Oct. 19, at the college’s Knight Campus in Warwick.

The program is supported by the Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services’ Health System Transformation Project. Doors open at 7 a.m. in the Great Hall, with presentations from 7:45 a.m. to noon.

The symposium will feature a two-part panel discussion with experts from the occupational therapy, psychiatry and community health fields, among others, to introduce evidence-based alternative treatments for non-opioid pain relief.

According to Prevent Overdose RI, a Task Force established by Gov. Gina Raimondo in 2015 to combat the state’s overdose death crisis, more than 300 Rhode Islanders lost their lives to overdose each year from 2016 through 2018, peaking with 336 overdose deaths in 2016. The main goal of the Task Force is to reduce the number of deaths each year.

“We are seeing a change in protocol and practice nationwide regarding the use of opioids to treat pain, and our symposium is an important step in helping healthcare professionals understand there are more thoughtful and far less addictive alternatives,” said Suzanne Carr, Ph.D., RN and CCRI’s interim dean of health and rehabilitative sciences. “There is a whole range of treatment options available that do not involve the use of opioids.”

With 177 overdose deaths already reported in 2019, according to Prevent Overdose RI, there is still work to be done, and the use of non-opioid treatments to manage both acute and chronic pain is the focus of this year’s Changing the Culture of Pain Treatment Symposium.

The goal among panelists is to emphasize the benefits of non-opioid pain treatments such as clinical massage therapy, acupuncture, physical therapy and naturopathic medicine in an effort to change the current culture of pain management. Panelists will discuss their approach to treating pain while outlining the psychosocial risk factors and evaluating the outcomes of integrative therapy options.

“This year’s symposium walks the attendee through safe steps to manage pain,” said Regina Cobb, MSW, BCLMT, CCRI’s Therapeutic Massage Program director and the symposium course director. “Pain management using integrated therapies is an additional way healthcare professionals can respond to the opioid concerns afflicting our community.”

Dr. Matthew Smith, EMHL, a clinical orthopedic professor at Brown, will moderate the course, which begins with a presentation on Pain Neuroscience and Psychologically Informed Care by CCRI professor and licensed physical therapist Jennifer Hurrell, PT, MS, DHSc.

Symposium panelists include Nancy Dooley, Ph.D., OTR.L, associate professor of occupational therapy at Johnson & Wales University; Ellyn Flynn, MD, MTS, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Brown; Victoria Moutahir, MS, BCLMT, adjunct faculty member of CCRI’s Rehabilitative Health Department; Julia Twining, MSN, RN, OCN, advanced practice manager at The Miriam Hospital; Jennifer Jackson, DAOM, MSOM, LMT, Ocean Ki Acupuncture; Martine Delonnay, ND, MD, founder and CEO of Delonnay Holistics; Michael Gottfried, B.A., M.A., D.C., chiropractic physician at Aquidneck Chiropractic; Latisha Michel, CCHW, Newport Health Equity Zone; Jennifer Reynolds, PT, TPS, Reynolds Physical Therapy; and Frank Sparadeo, Ph.D., instructor in the Department of Rehabilitation Counseling at Salve Regina University.

Registration costs $25 per person and available online. The fee includes a light breakfast. CCRI has teamed with the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University this year to provide Continuing Medical Education course credits. CCRI has applied for Continuing Nursing Education nursing contact hours for registered attendees through the Northeast Multistate Division. Professionals and students in the fields of physical therapists, occupational therapists, massage therapists, and social work will earn a certificate of completion for attending the symposium, which they can use to apply for accreditation.

For more information, visit ccri.edu.