NCT06407115

Adapting and Implementing a Nurse Care Management Model to Care for Rural Patients With Chronic Pain

• Status: Active Not Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 450 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Washington · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Chronic pain affects over 20% U.S. adults and has debilitating effects on quality of life and physical and mental health. Individuals living in rural communities experience higher rates of chronic pain as well as poorer health outcomes due to pain. The 46 million Americans who live in rural areas frequently lack access to evidence-based, non-pharmacologic treatments for chronic pain. As such, a critical need exists to implement effective, comprehensive programs for pain management that include treatment options other than medications. Nurse care management (NCM) has been successfully used to enhance care for individuals with other long-term health issues. The study teams proposes to adapt, pilot, and implement a NCM model that includes care coordination, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and referrals to a remotely delivered exercise program for rural patients with chronic pain.

Detailed description

Care managers will provide care coordination to help patients address their health holistically and help link them key resources in the community. In addition, the care managers will be trained to deliver cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to address unhelpful thought patterns and behaviors around chronic pain and also facilitate patients' participation in physical exercise. One exercise option offered is EnhanceFitness (tele-EF), an evidence-based exercise program that can be accessed from home. The rationale is that both tele-EF and CBT have been independently shown to improve pain, functioning, and quality of life and that care managers could support patients in accessing and engaging in these services. Phase 1 allowed the study team to prepare for a randomized controlled trial to test the adapted NCM model with rural patients who have chronic pain. Investigators assessed feasibility of implementing this intervention in rural serving health care systems using two practice-based research networks with substantial rural presence, the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho) region Practice and Research Network and Mecklenburg Area Partnership for Primary Care Research in North Carolina. In combination, recruitment in these two networks will allow the study team to reach ethnically diverse participants across broad rural geographies. Phase 2 is the randomized controlled trial across multiple sites of the integrated NCM model to test whether it is effective in reducing pain interference.

Conditions

• Chronic Pain

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)	CBT in this study will consist of a series of 6-10, 30-45-minute sessions with the care manager. These 1-on-1 sessions will occur every week or every other week virtually. Content will be focus on addressing unhelpful thinking and small behavioral changes that may help participants better manage their pain.
BEHAVIORAL	Exercise Counseling and tele-EnhanceFitness	Participants will be counseling on physical exercise and encouraged enroll in instructor-led exercises classes for up to an hour, 3 days per week. These classes can be accessed from home. Data plans and tablets are available to aid participants that need them to gain access to the classes.
OTHER	Care Coordination	Care manager will meet with patient in virtual sessions once a month to create a care plan and monitor progress. Care manager will assess social determinants of health and link participants to resources in the community as appropriate. In addition, participants will take monthly assessments about pain and mood to help guide clinical decision making.
OTHER	Standard Clinical Practice Regimen	Routine clinical care provided by the primary care team. This may include, consultations, medications, and referrals.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-05-28
• Primary completion: 2028-05-01
• Completion: 2028-07-01
• First posted: 2024-05-09
• Last updated: 2026-01-12

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States