How do we optimize the role of parents in children’s pain management?
 
The family has long been acknowledged as an important context where children learn about and receive support for their pain. When a child is in pain, the family is responsible for the initial pain assessment and for seeking appropriate evaluation and care. Parents are a common denominator to almost all of their children’s pain experiences; they are usually present with their children when pain is experienced at home either as a result of injury or illness, and they accompany children for most medical appointments and procedures. This presentation will provide an overview of my research focusing on the ways that parents can play a role in pediatric pain assessment and management. I will also describe the reach and impact of our recent work using social media (#ItDoesntHaveToHurt, #KidsCancerPain) to mobilize research evidence about children’s pain directly to parents.
 
 
Christine T. Chambers, PhD RPsych
Canada Research Chair in Children’s Pain (Tier 1)
Professor of Pediatrics and Psychology & Neuroscience
Dalhousie University and IWK Health Centre
Halifax, Nova Scotia