Join us as we discuss the complexities in pain management in indigenous populations and address well-established inequities in pain prevalence, access to care, and outcomes for Indigenous communities.
Date: Wednesday, November 13, 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Eastern (US) Time
This webinar is being produced through a collaboration of the IASP’s Social Aspects of Pain Special Interest Group and IASP’s Sex, Gender, Race, and Pain Special Interest Group.
The mission of IASP’s Social Aspects of Pain Special Interest Group is to “raise awareness and understanding of the social context of pain within the IASP community and the community at large,” while the mission of IASP’s Sex, Gender, Race, and Pain Special Interest Group is to “encourage basic and clinical research on how sex, gender, and race affect pain mechanisms and all realms of its management.”
During this webinar, we will explore the topic of pain management in indigenous populations. Additionally, there will be discussion regarding how to improve access, experience, and outcomes in pain care/management throughout these diverse communities.
Participants include:
- Lívia Gaspar Fernandes, MS, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Jane Linton, Aboriginal Medical Service Cooperative, Northern NSW LHD, New South Wales, Australia
- Dave Jones, Turtle Concepts, Ontario, Canada
- Ivan Lin, PhD, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia (Discussant)
About the Speakers
Lívia Gaspar Fernandes, MS, is a PhD candidate at the University of Otago in Wellington, New Zealand, under the supervision of Dr. Hemakumar Devan and Ms. Cheryl Davies. Currently, she is co-designing whānau stories to reduce opioid use for chronic pain in Aotearoa populations. Previously, Lívia Gasper Fernandes performed as a rehabilitation technical officer for Handicap International in Mosul, Iraq, and as a physiotherapy manager for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Baghdad, Iraq. Lívia graduated with her master’s degree from Universidade Cidade de São Paulo in physical therapy in 2021 and published numerous papers about the potential barriers to chronic pain management in a telehealth environment during her time there.
Jane Linton is a Gumbaynggirr woman from the north coast of New South Wales and is living on Gumbaynggirr country. She is a physiotherapist with more than 20 years of clinical experience and is currently working in the public hospital system. As part of this role, she works as a physiotherapist in an outreach musculoskeletal physiotherapy clinic at the local Aboriginal Medical Service Cooperative, which she assisted in establishing. In 2014 she assisted in establishing the SOS Health Services in Palm Island, North Queensland, and worked as a physiotherapist with the predominately Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. Jane is also a current member of the Indigenous Allied Health Association.
Dave Jones was born and raised by two amazing parents on the Garden River First Nation near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Dave, the second of four children, is of Ojibwe ancestry. His love of learning drove him to obtain a bachelor’s in sociology as well as a bachelor’s in education with a concentration in the primary/junior level. In 1999, Dave formally left teaching to open Turtle Concepts so that he could teach confidence in all its facets and inspire changes to last a lifetime. Dave’s deep knowledge of his Indigenous culture, coupled with contemporary skills and methodologies, combine to create modern, fun, yet culturally relevant sessions to address suicide prevention, gang awareness, drug and alcohol awareness, confidence building strategies, anti-bullying practices, prenatal engagement, life skills, employment readiness, career skills and professional development for staff in day cares, schools, boards and more. He is an award-winning motivational speaker, author, and professional photographer who has launched several major poster campaigns, a musician, storyteller, emcee, consultant, designer, fashion director, choreographer, makeup artist, stylist, counselor, teacher, and most of all a strong advocate for promoting healthy lifestyles. He currently serves as a councillor on the Garden River First Nation Council.
About the Discussant
Ivan Lin, PhD, is an associate professor at the Western Australian Centre for Rural Health, and specialist musculoskeletal physiotherapist (as awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapy in 2021) at the Geraldton Regional Aboriginal Medical Service. Ivan lives and works in Western Australia on Yamaji country, in Geraldton (Jambinu). Ivan’s collaborative research aims to improve the management of musculoskeletal pain conditions, clinical communication, Aboriginal, remote, and rural health, and rural allied health practice. Alongside Prof. Dawn Bessarab and Dr Charmaine Green, Ivan co-developed the Clinical Yarning framework of communication in Aboriginal health care, and works with a team to translate this framework into routine Aboriginal health care.