The pain of it: chronic pain in the workplace

Not my company? Sorry, estimates indicate chronic pain in the workforce to be as high as 31 percent, up 34 percent in the last decade. If you think this is a blue-collar only problem, poor posture, repetitive tasks, and obesity make conditions like back and joint pain common for office workers as well. Other chronic pain conditions like migraine headache, TMJ, fibromyalgia and arthritis can afflict workers in any profession. When chronic illness patients were asked which condition they needed the most help with, five of the top twelve picks were chronic pain conditions.

What’s the impact? Chronic back pain sufferers taking our program reported that their productivity impairment (absenteeism and presenteeism) was 31 percent compared to those with no back pain at 5 percent; that’s $13,000 per person being flushed down the toilet in non-productive time (based on a $50,000 salary). In addition, chronic back pain sufferers reported an additional five sick days in the previous 12 months. Add to that the medical and disability expenses and the costs escalate higher.

How chronic pain affects a person

Chronic pain is defined as prolonged persistent or frequently recurring pain of at least three to six months duration. Following the rings of the circle in the diagram, starting at the center, the physical pain impacts ability to do normal activities. This can lead to mood swings and irritability, disrupted sleep patterns and ultimately estranged relationships.

One aspect of the treatment of chronic pain is to reverse this chain reaction by using behavior change theory. Addressing these issues addresses the suffering part of pain, the outer rings in the diagram, so the physical pain becomes more bearable.

Chronic pain is not an isolated condition. The link between chronic pain and plan must address both. Recent studies also found the reverse may also be true, that a significant percentage of people with depression also have chronic pain.

Treatment approaches

Andrew Bertagnolli, PhD, Care Management Consultant of Kaiser Permanente’s Care Management Institute (KP), describes their approach to treating chronic pain with patient self-care being the goal of an overall treatment plan. One of the key components of the treatment is cognitive behavior therapy - teaching coping skills and changing attitudes towards chronic pain. Physical therapy, complimentary and alternative medicine practices, and medication management round out this approach. KP segments its pain population by levels 1, 2 and 3; with 3 being the most psychologically depression is well established to the point that any treatment compromised, physically deconditioned and medically complex.

Because almost 60 percent of the pain population falls into the Level 1 category – there is an opportunity for a scalable, web-based intervention that will support patient self-management and prevent progression into more problematic areas. KP is rolling out HealthMedia Care for Pain to do just that. The program will also be used in after care for the high-acuity Level 3 patients.

Expanding worksite health management to include chronic pain

Worksite health management programs commonly consist of a health risk assessment (HRA) combined with programs for weight management, nutrition, smoking and stress management. These programs are often high-cost counselor lead programs. HealthMedia, Inc. has developed web-based behavior change interventions that emulate a one-on-one session with a nurse counselor or health coach. Major employers and healthplans are using these highly effective, scalable and award-winning programs today.

HealthMedia took what it learned from its successful web-based interventions for back pain and chronic illness and developed a general chronic pain program that focuses on helping employees re-invent themselves to live with chronic pain, and deal with issues of stress, depression and insomnia. Care for Pain is an ideal addition to workplace wellness programs and can significantly impact disability and back-to-work programs. Organizations are quickly jumping on board to offer this program to their employees.

Ed Baas is Director of Product Marketing at HealthMedia, Inc.

HealthMedia is a registered trademark and HealthMedia Care is a trademark of HealthMedia, Inc.