Canadian Pain Task Force Meeting: October 21, 2020

Canadian Pain Task Force Meeting: October 21, 2020, 12:00-13:00 EST
Via videoconference

Meeting Summary

Objectives

• Update on status of Phase II report production and plan for public release
• Goals and process for Phase III activities
• Provide status updates on various ongoing projects and engagements

Participants

Task Force: Fiona Campbell, Maria Hudspith, Manon Choinière, Hani El-Gabalawy, Jacques Laliberté, Michael Sangster, Jaris Swidrovich, Linda Wilhelm

Secretariat: Andrew Taylor, Pamela Rizzo, Lindsey Yessick, Baies Haqani, Nyree Schreiber, Olanna Barnett

Regrets: Megan Wyszynski

Welcome

• The Secretariat welcomed everyone and provided an overview of the meeting objectives and agenda. The Secretariat also inquired about changes to Task Force member affiliations and interests, with no significant updates reported.

Update on Phase II report production and planning for public release

• The Secretariat provided an update on the status of Phase II report production and release. The report is on track to be released by early November – ideally to coincide with National Pain Awareness Week.
• Plans for communicating the release of the report were still under development, but staff were working to create social media plans and a background document that could serve as the basis for future media releases.
• The Task Force agreed to distribute the report through their substantial networks, discussed potential stakeholders to include in the overall distribution list, and ways to support social media postings and other planned activities.   
• Members also agreed that communication regarding the first two Task Force reports would continue over the coming months through presentations, webinars, and other proposed activities related to the Phase III mandate.
• Task Force members discussed the importance of creating a means to receive public feedback and comments after the report release and expressing that the Task Force is continuing to engage and build on what has been done.

Planning for Phase III activities

• Prior to the meeting the Secretariat shared the Phase III engagement plan with members. In the short term, engagement will focus on upcoming webinars and conferences to share the results of Phase II. Over the longer-term, activities will expand to engage stakeholders in virtual workshops and meetings and to increase web and communication tools. The Task Force agreed with the initial planning and that the third report should focus on priorities for future actions.
• Members discussed establishing follow-up meetings with key research funding agencies, primary care stakeholders, and provincial and territorial representatives.
• Task Force members also discussed upcoming meetings and webinars that could build out the engagement plan.
• To enable discussion of potential strategies and prioritization of future actions, members suggested creating a discussion document mapping suggestions from Phase I and II to various policy levers.

Next steps and follow-up items

• Task Force members will provide more detailed and specific feedback to the Secretariat on the outreach strategy. A revised version will then be sent to all Task Force members for continued discussion at their next meeting.
• The Secretariat will explore the creation of a policy lever document and conduct additional research on national strategies for other chronic conditions.