Dr Pene Wood (B.Pharm Hons MPS-AACPA PhD)
Community Health and Aboriginal Health Practice Pharmacist in Victoria (Deer Park and Geelong). Member of the IPC Health “Power Over Pain” multidisciplinary team. Amateur cyclist (Pain Revolution Outreach tour 2019, 2020, 2024). Special interest in opioids and their safe and appropriate use in pain management.
Author contact details: Penelope.wood@ipchealth.com.au
Darwin – anything but painful!
What a fantastic conference it was in Darwin this year. Great weather, great people, amazing speakers and presentations and plenty of opportunity for networking and potential collaborations!
This was my second APS conference but the first time having the opportunity to present some of the fantastic work my team is doing, which I may not have been able to do without receiving an APS travel grant. Our poster was titled “Power Over Pain: Is Care Coordination the Missing Ingredient?” And essentially, we think yes! It’s early days yet with our program but we think a point of difference from other programs in our area is the Wellbeing Coordinator (WBC) role we have embedded in our team. The WBC supports patients more with the psychosocial components of their pain experience and recovery journey, from attending appointments acting as an advocate, supporting access to financial support, helping fill out paperwork, to helping find a social group or network that is a good fit for them. And it is not only us who think this role is important, the clients we have interviewed thus far also agree. We had many visitors at poster number 103, both local and international, wanting to learn more about our program and how it worked and how they might implement such a program or role themselves within their own organisation.
I have enjoyed the APS conference the last two years for its interdisciplinary nature compared to other purely pharmacist conferences I have attended. It provides the opportunity to learn about other clinicians/profession’s roles and the great work that they are doing within these roles to support people living with pain. It provides a fantastic opportunity to catch-up with old friends and make new like-minded friends. But it still provides the opportunity to collaborate and explore what my pharmacist colleagues are doing in this space with the disciplinary specific meetings.
One of the highlights of the conference for me was the very engaging opening presentation by Dr Charlotte Elder – “Flipping the Script: Sex and Gender Disparities in Pain.” I loved her call to action for all of us to do better and it made me think about my own practice and any biases I may have and assumptions I make about women’s pain, especially pain labelled as endometriosis. This is especially relevant for us Victorians who were in the audience given the Inquiry into Women’s Pain that is going on in Victoria at the moment.
My second highlight (not pain related) was having the opportunity to arrive early and explore all that Darwin has to offer. The APS team do a great job organising the pre-conference tours and showcasing what the host city has to offer, being it tours of the local National Park or tasting of the local gin – both of which I partook in and thoroughly enjoyed. I think crocodiles might be my new favourite reptile! These pre and post conference events also gave me the opportunity to talk more intimately with some of the key-note speakers and superstars of the event including the amazing Tasha Stanton and international icon Cheryl Stucky about the fantastic work they are doing.
I am really looking forward to next year’s conference being on my home turf of Melbourne (in fact just down the road from where I live!). I am looking forward to building on the networks that I have started building both last year in Canberra and this year in Darwin and showcasing all this amazing city that I live in has to offer to our interstate and international visitors. And I’m not going to lie, not having to fly home at midnight, landing at 5am will be a big plus!
Declaration: Dr Pene Wood has received funding from Indivior for development and delivery of education materials in the past.
Australian Pain Society 