PT-IN-MIND

Co-occurrence of chronic musculoskeletal pain and long-term opioid treatment is well-established. Despite the very common use of physical therapy by persons with chronic musculoskeletal pain, these providers have not engaged efforts to manage co-occurring long-term opioid treatment.  

Physical therapy and mindfulness interventions can operate along common mechanistic pathways to disrupt the downward spiral of pain, catastrophic appraisal, and unconscious behavioral response including long-term opioid treatment.  Strong scientific premise suggests that integrating physical therapy and mindfulness treatments may be especially beneficial for persons with co-occurring chronic musculoskeletal pain and long-term opioid treatment.  

PT-IN-MIND refines an intervention that combines physical therapy and mindfulness interventions using the principles of Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain and long-term opioid treatment, then assesses the competency with which physical therapists provide the combined intervention and, finally, and evaluates the feasibility of this combined intervention in preparation for PT-IN-MIND’s future clinical trial.