NZNO nurses, healthcare assistants and some midwives plan to strike from 9am on Wednesday 30 July to 9am on Thursday 31 July. Patient safety is our priority and our hospitals will remain open. Continue to attend all appointments unless we have contacted you directly to reschedule.
The Persistent pain service is an outpatient service that helps with the management of long-term pain conditions.
You can contact the Persistent pain service by:
The Persistent pain service is located in the Fraser Building at Dunedin Hospital.
464 Cumberland Street
Dunedin
Persistent pain services
Private Bag 1921
Dunedin 9054
New Zealand
The aim of the Persistent pain management service is help regain independent management of your pain condition and to enable you to have a more fulfilling life. This is done with other services to help manage complex pain problems by:
The team is innovative and keen to explore international advances in pain medicine and pain management. This means new approaches will be tried or offered from time-to-time.
Persistent pain is classified as pain that has lasted more than 3 months and can affect all ages.
A pain doctor in a multidisciplinary persistent pain service plays a central role in the comprehensive management of chronic or persistent pain. They bring medical expertise to diagnose, treat, and manage pain conditions that often have complex, multifactorial causes. Their responsibilities include:
By combining medical expertise with a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach, pain doctors help patients achieve better pain control, improve functionality, and enhance quality of life in the face of persistent pain.
We try and avoid long-term opiates for pain management as evidence shows a worse outcome in persistent pain patients.
Pain physiotherapy considers the relationship between physical, emotional, and social factors in understanding and treating pain. Physiotherapists make full assessments and treatment plans with you and aim to improve:
You can expect to learn strategies which enable you to self-manage your pain.
Core physiotherapy techniques include:
The Patient education programme (PEP) is for people who find persistent pain interferes with their ability to lead a normal life. It is a 6-week programme developed to help you decide what is important to you, and to support you to take the next best steps towards being yourself again.
Group sessions happen once a week between 9:30am and 2:30pm.
Each group is limited to 10 people. Although delivered as a group programme, people will have individual treatment plans and clear goals they are working to acheive.
Topics include:
Participants are encouraged to contribute to the discussion. Each session includes mindfulness practice.
Persistent pain can be a socially isolating experience with whānau, friends and even treating medical teams not understanding how difficult it can be. In the group you will be able to meet other people in the same situation as you, who understand what you are going through. Group programmes also give people the opportunity to share information and learn from one another.
The programme aims to help people:
PEP may help if pain is interfering with your attempts to maintain normal daily activities or work. You may feel you are managing quite well, but other ideas and strategies may help to continue your improvement. PEP may help you regain control over your life and achieve your goals despite having pain.
iSelf help in an online group programme for people who find persistent pain interferes with their ability to lead a normal life. It is a 12-week programme developed to help you decide what is important to you, and to support you to take the next best steps towards being yourself again.
Sessions are Monday and Wednesday every week, between 1:30pm and 2:30pm.
Although delivered as a group programme, people will have individual treatment plans and clear goals they are working to acheive.
Topics include:
Participants are encouraged to contribute to the discussion. Each session starts with a review and reflection on previous content. Participants also have access to online resources.
Persistent pain can be a socially isolating experience with whānau, friends and even treating medical teams not understanding how difficult it can be. In the group you will be able to meet other people in the same situation as you, who understand what you are going through. Group programmes also give people the opportunity to share information and learn from one another.
The programme aims to help people:
iSelf help may help if pain is interfering with your attempts to maintain normal daily activities or work. You may feel you are managing quite well, but other ideas and strategies may help to continue your improvement. PEP may help you regain control over your life and achieve your goals despite having pain.
iSelf help is targeted to those who cannot travel to Dunedin or take significant time off work during the day to attend the in-person group.
A group exercise class runs on Friday mornings from 9am to 10am.
All participants have an individualised programme that is designed by the physiotherapy team and is tailored to their specific needs and abilities. The supportive environment encourages motivation and accountability, making it easier to maintain a regular routine.
Exercising with others can reduce the feelings of isolation that persistent pain can cause through sharing your journey, challenges, and successes. The group setting also allows for the exchange of tips and coping strategies, as members support each other. This blend of personal and collective experiences can boost motivation, improve adherence to exercise routines, and create a positive atmosphere that enhances overall wellbeing.
Numerous studies suggest mindfulness is a key pain coping skill.
This 8-week course is for patients who have a basic understanding of mindfulness but would like to better understand how to use it to support their pain management. Members can expect to learn through in-session discussion and practice, and daily home practice.
One of the most difficult parts of coping with chronic pain is its impact on relationships. Being in a group with others who understand the lived experience of having chronic pain can be very useful.
In this ongoing weekly ongoing group, members will be invited to engage with each other in a manner that focuses on interpersonal process. This means the group leaders help members use their interactions with each other to learn more about themselves and their interpersonal patterns.
Patients often report benefits from the group that extend to their everyday lives and personal relationships.
TEDxAdelaide - Lorimer Moseley - Why Things Hurt — YouTube
Pain resource: 'Navigating Pain' — New Zealand Pain Society
Chronic Pain | Pain Management Network
Recovery strategies — Greg Lehman
The Pain Science Education Podcast with Joe Tatta — Integrative Pain Science Institute
Mindfulness apps — Positive Psychology
Your main healthcare provider can refer you to our services.
You will be sent a questionnaire to complete when we get the referral. As well as contact details, the questionnaires give us information about:
We will email you the referral if your email address is included in the referral. We will post it to you otherwise. We can only accept your referral once you have returned the questionnaire, and email is the quickest way for this to be done.
