Canadian Pain Task Force Meeting: November 17, 2021

Canadian Pain Task Force Meeting: November 17, 2021, 11:00-13:00 EST

Via videoconference

Meeting Summary

Objectives

• Update on Canadian Pain Task Force Secretariat and recent activities
• Update on new Ministers of Health and their priorities
• Preparation for the December 1, 2021 final meeting with External Advisory Panel (EAP)

Participants

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

Secretariat: Olanna Barnett, Sarah Batten, Suzete Dos Santos, Jean-Francois Leroux, Fiona Morrow, Jacqueline Oddi, Lindsey Yessick

Health Canada: Jennifer Novak (Executive Director, Opioid Response Team)

Welcome

• The co-chairs welcomed everyone and provided an overview of the meeting objectives and agenda.
• The Secretariat inquired about changes to Task Force member affiliations and interests, with no significant updates reported. New members of the Secretariat were introduced: Jacqueline Oddi, Senior Manager and Jean-Francois Leroux, Manager of Policy.

Close-out Message for CPTF Members

• Jennifer Novak, Executive Director of the Opioid Response Team, expressed gratitude to members for delivering the impressive work and accomplishments in the face of so much uncertainty (two elections, and a global pandemic), and an accelerated mandate. She highlighted the intersect between chronic pain and many health priorities that has been identified by the federal government.
• Health Canada indicated that the distribution of responsibilities between the Minister of Health and the Minister of Mental Health and Addiction and Associate Minister of Health were still being clarified.
• Some Task Force members indicated having an interest in continuing collaborating with Health Canada as the Department is looking to implement the Task Force's recommendations. Some members also highlighted the importance of establishing performance metrics to evaluate and demonstrate the success of this implementation.

Communication Updates

• The Secretariat provided a summary of the social media metrics for National Pain Awareness Week (NPAW). The Deputy Minister and Associate Deputy Minister included a message about NPAW to Health Canada staff and an NPAW email was sent to the stakeholder distribution list. The social media messaging was restricted by caretaker convention and therefore could not be amplified.
• Members asked about the process for moving NPAW to align with the international pain month (September). The Secretariat indicated that given NPAW was established as part of an Act in Parliament, the process would require a Parliamentarian to bring forward a new bill.
• The Secretariat also informed the members that there will be updates made to the Government of Canada chronic pain landing page. The Secretariat hopes that members will be open to providing feedback as this work evolves.
• An update on the success of the PainBC media activity during NPAW was provided.

Conferences, Symposium and Roundtable Updates

• The Secretariat provided a summary of the Canadian Agency for Drug Technologies in Health (CADTH) roundtable held on October 19, 2021. The roundtable included 32 individuals representing 10 provinces and territories as well as representation from the Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. A primary outcome of this roundtable included uncertainty about cost and clinical effectiveness related to models of care. Next steps include sharing a summary of the roundtable and CADTH conducting a review of clinical and cost effectiveness for models of care.
• The Secretariat also provided some highlights from the CADTH Symposium held November 2 to 4, 2021. A main takeaway included the need for reduced variability in how we manage and treat people with pain. Some participants at the Symposium suggested that in order to achieve this, there should be awareness in provinces on what is available in other provinces and what could be scaled from their success.

Planning for the Final Task Force/EAP Meeting

• The Secretariat informed members that the Associate Assistant Deputy Minister would be in attendance at the last meeting on December 1, 2021 and requested suggestions from the members on agenda items.

Task Force Roundtable

• Members expressed gratitude for the privilege to take part in the Task Force. Members believed the bar on pain awareness had been moved during the mandate, which is something to be proud of.
• Some members expressed hope that future endeavors emphasize the need for more information on alternative and complementary therapy and that research recommendations would be put into actions and translate into additional funding for pain research.

Closing Remarks

Health Canada provided a final thank you to members for their work and indicated that while the Canadian Pain Task Force mandate may have an end, it also marks the beginning of a new chapter with the implementation of their recommendations.

Task Force co-chairs thanked the group for their hard work, noting that they felt they had established strong connections for future work on pain.