Patchett, David

The effectiveness of in-person psychological interventions for chronic pain populations has been widely studied. The current retrospective pilot study evaluates the effectiveness of a 10-week integrative telehealth pain group intervention consisting of cognitive, behavioral, mindfulness, and lifestyle strategies on anxiety, depression, pain catastrophizing, pain interference, and pain intensity. Participants at a large multidisciplinary hospital are referred internally from various medical departments within the hospital. The present study consists of data from 9 group cohorts from October 2020 to June 2022. The study included 86 patients, with 52 completing all 10 weeks of the intervention with post-questionnaire data available. Measures assessing anxiety, depression, pain catastrophizing, pain interference, and pain intensity at baseline and at the completion of the intervention. A series of paired samples t-tests were used to assess change in each outcome measure from baseline to after completion of the program. All the outcome variables including anxiety, depression, pain interference, pain intensity, and pain catastrophizing showed statistically significant reductions after the intervention compared to baseline assessments. There were no significant differences in any of the demographic variables (age, gender, ethnicity, education level) or chronic pain condition between participants who did and did not complete the program. Preliminary data suggest that this 10-week integrative telehealth pain group intervention significantly lowered anxiety, depression, pain catastrophizing, pain interference, and pain intensity from pre- to post-intervention. Larger, randomized controlled studies are needed to validate these results.

Purpose: High-value care is becoming increasingly important as the United States shifts toward a more sustainable health care system. Lifestyle medicine (LM) may be the highest-value model of care. Surprisingly, however, it is taught in a minority of medical schools. In this article, we describe a pilot project of introducing a brief LM course taught within the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in Arizona. The main purpose of the course was to introduce the students to LM as a specialty practice and to provide students with foundational knowledge of the pillars of LM. Results: Students reported improved personal health habits and increased confidence in LM competencies.