CHRONIC CONDITIONS
Supporting people to live well and manage chronic conditions including back pain , diabetes , heart and respiratory conditions .
Easing the burden of chronic pain
An estimated 3.2 million adults live with chronic pain in Australia . In addition to discomfort , they face an increased risk of anxiety , depression , social isolation , and low self-esteem .
Our free Chronic Pain Service ( CPS ), supported by the North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network ( NWMPHN ), provides innovative , integrated and responsive care in the community to improve long-term health and wellbeing outcomes for clients , and reduce hospital waiting lists .
It gives consumers the tools to manage their pain , using a variety of tailored , evidence-based approaches .
This year we focused on making chronic pain care more accessible to our diverse communities , improving physical and mental wellbeing through an evidence-based , multidisciplinary self-management program , and developing links with more services to expand the CPS ’ reach and support a more integrated approach to pain care .
What did we achieve ?
117 new patient referrals ; increasing total clients supported to nearly 300 in 3 years
83 % of patients reported making at least some overall improvement
77.8 % reported improvement in their physical abilities
60 % reported clinically significant improvement in anxiety
72.7 % made a clinically significant improvement in how pain interferes with their daily life
16.5 median wait times , down from 28 days last year
98.7 % of wait times under 3 months , 1.5 % improvement on last year and significantly lower than the national average ( 55.7 %).
99 clients born outside Australia , representing 41 countries ; 1 % were Aboriginal and / or Torres Strait Islander , 1.2 % had refugee status , 2.8 % of clients were gender diverse
100 % CPS client survey respondents said CPS positively influenced other areas of their life , work and / or relationships
100 % would recommend the service to a friend
Community members participated in our free Chronic Pain Service .
46 Health