Breaking the cycle
Course teaches holistic approach to
chronic pain management
D
Denny Atkin and his wife, Valerie, moved to Cabar-
rus County nearly two years ago. The couple headed
south from Pennsylvania to be closer to their children.
After the move, a shed at the couple’s new residence
stayed full of moving boxes. Denny’s chronic back
woes prevented him from clearing the boxes.
He’s lived with the issue for decades. He first
underwent surgery in 1997, and thought the pro-
cedure would help alleviate his near-constant back
pain. But it only worsened as he aged, he said.
Denny, 66, had resigned himself to living with
his ailment.
Things changed recently, however, after he and
Valerie attended a class called Living Healthy with
Chronic Pain at the Cabarrus County Senior Center
in Concord.
The benefits were amazing, he said.
“The greatest thing about (the program) is that you
can learn to deal with the pain,” Denny said. “And
the biggest thing you learn is that you have to get
up and get active.”
Physical activity is just one part of the holistic approach
of the course, which is facilitated by Cannon Pharmacies
and developed by Stanford University. Centralina Area
Agency on Aging facilitates the licensing agreements
and trains the facilitators. Living Healthy with Chronic
Pain is one of several outreach initiatives that make up
Cannon Health’s Enhanced Pharmacy Services.
“When we started the group sessions, we identified
that certain families needed help beyond medica-
tion,” said Amanda Buck, a Certified Senior Advisor
who serves as the community outreach director with
Cannon Health. “We decided that maybe what they
needed was education and resources.”
As prescription opioid abuse continued to be a
problem nationwide, it was a perfect time to offer an
alternative way of thinking about managing pain.
“When you’re talking about chronic pain, it’s not
something that medicine will necessarily cure,”
Buck said. “It’s not like a sinus infection. Many
other things contribute to the problem.”
Denny and Valerie Atkin
2
JOURNEYS Summer 2019
Participants learn about the pain cycle, which covers
a variety of physical and mental problems involved
in chronic pain. For instance, poor sleep leads to
tense muscles, which leads to restricted movement,
which leads to ineffective breathing, and so on.