Models of Care for Chronic Pain

Key Messages

• For chronic pain, 1 hub-and-spoke model and 4 stepped care models for the delivery of care in Canada and internationally were identified and described. No information was found on the use of the Oncology Care Model for chronic pain.
• For other medical conditions, 9 stepped care models, 5 hub-and-spoke models, and the Oncology Care Model for the delivery of care in Canada and internationally were identified and described.
• Patient-related outcomes used to evaluate the effectiveness of models of care for chronic pain include pain measures (e.g., intensity, duration), psychosocial outcomes (e.g., anxiety, depression), functional outcomes (e.g., disability, employment status), and health care utilization (e.g., opioid prescriptions, health care visits).
• Various barriers and facilitators to providing care for patients with chronic pain were identified in the consultations and the literature. The most common factors that influenced the care provided to patients with chronic pain pertained to funding, support, and collaboration from the government and locally; having a centralized intake and referral system; and leveraging existing resources.
• There appears to be considerable variation in the models of care used to address the care needs of patients with chronic pain. In Canada, there are provincial, regional, and local models, and local programs; some regions do not have a formalized approach for the provision of care for chronic pain patients.