Health Matters - Apple Magazine Health Matters Summer 2018 | Page 2

CALGARY AND AREA Your Health Matters Health Matters is published by Calgary and area Primary Care Networks (PCNs) to give you information about the programs, services and health teams available to you through your family doctor. Founded more than 10 years ago, PCNs work with teams of other healthcare professionals, as well as offer programs such as Prescription to Get Active and Find-a-Doctor. Health Matters, Summer 2018 Issue publication team: Keith Bradford, Terry Bullick, Sarah Gage, Jessica Hone, Dr. Christine Luelo, Colleen Seto, Brett Tiesmaki, Chrissie Worth, Shelly Wright Contributors: Jacqueline Louie, Jimi Scherer, Colleen Seto, George Webber Cover photo ©istock.com We appreciate your feedback and article suggestions. Contact our editorial team at [email protected]. Living well with pain WRITTEN BY COLLEEN SETO We’ve all felt pain and we’ve all felt the relief of its passing. But for people living with chronic pain relief is often brief, if at all. In broad terms, pain is an unpleasant sensation in your body that makes you want to stop or change your behaviour. In the case of chronic pain, the jabs, throbbing and spasms can persist even after the initial injury heals. In some cases, the cause may not be known. The experience of pain is different for everyone, making it difficult to diagnose and treat. Chronic pain: a lifelong condition “Chronic pain affects one in five Canadians,” says Dr. June Bergman, medical lead for the extended health team at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network (PCN). “We now know that it is a disease more of the nervous system than of a specific repairable problem. Chronic pain is a disease and can require lifelong management. This is a different way of thinking. There is not a simple solution or a pill that will fix it.” To help people living with ongoing pain, Calgary-area PCNs offer pain-management support through a variety of programs and services. They’ve adopted a team approach, drawing on an array of healthcare professionals to tackle different concerns about pain. To find your PCN, visit mypcn.ca TWO › Bow Valley Primary Care Network › Calgary West Central Primary Care Network › Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network › Highland Primary Care Network › Mosaic Primary Care Network › Calgary Rural Primary Care Network › South Calgary Primary Care Network HEALTH MATTERS SUMMER 2018 More than half of people living with chronic pain have other health concerns such as mental health and digestive issues, obesity and arthritis. “We work with the individual using a biopsychosocial approach that encompasses all the elements that may impact the experience of disease,” Bergman says.