The Alberta College of Family Physicians (ACFP) is pleased to announce it has been awarded a $1.9 million funding contribution from Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addictions Program (SUAP). The funds allow the ACFP to continue the important work of the Collaborative Mentorship Network for Chronic Pain and Addiction (CMN) and to broaden its scope by expanding the network to the full health team including pharmacists, nurses, and social workers.
The ACFP remains focused on pursuing and assisting our members to provide adaptive, high quality health care.
The opioid crisis highlighted a need in primary care for medical mentoring in chronic pain and substance use, and since the CMN was started, the need for diverse mentorship options has been identified. The CMN has had a unique opportunity to provide resources for building capacity in family physicians and their teams to manage chronic pain and substance use disorder in a compassionate and holistic way.
“In my community, over the last few months, there have been more deaths due to substance use than from COVID-19. 1 in 4 Albertans suffer from chronic pain. Frontline workers need support – the CMN is a community of practice focused on harm reduction and how we can help our patients now. The CMN is for all aspects of managing chronic pain and substance use in a safe and secure environment.”
– Dr. Cathy Scrimshaw, Pincher Creek
The CMN was launched in March 2019 and was funded through the Primary Health Care Opioid Response Initiative from Alberta Health.
With the SUAP contribution, the CMN will continue to build capacity within family physicians and primary care teams to care for patients; it supports the continued integration of the health system into the community with long-term relationships developed in mentoring and in dissemination of evidence-based tools and resources.
The CMN model ensures family physician voices are present in the discussions relating to the current challenges within chronic pain and substance use, and CME opportunities are directly shaped around these voices
The CMN Expands its Program Objectives
The ACFP has enhanced the existing CMN program objectives:
- To provide practical, evidence-based, and relevant complex clinical care continuing professional development (CPD) and supporting reference material based on learning needs;
- To enhance the capacity of family physicians and their teams and increase connections to community partners in providing complex clinical care of patients with chronic pain and addiction;
- To provide a platform for integration among primary care and specialty care; and
- To include persons with lived experience in the educational components of this network.
What’s Next
Please share this news with your interdisciplinary teams members, and consider joining the CMN in an of the following ways:
- Become a Mentor
- Request a Mentor/Become a Mentee
- Use the Discussion Board
- Participate in Virtual Collaboration Forums
- Attend CMN Education Events
