COMMunity of Practice And Safety Support for Navigating Pain (COMPASS-NP): study protocol for a randomized controlled...

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Pain Management
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Chronic pain is a significant issue for home care workers (HCWs), often leading to disability.
• Current pain treatments, primarily medication, are insufficient and carry risks.
• HCWs face high rates of work-related injuries and pain.

Purpose of the Study:

• To adapt and evaluate a work-based program, COMPASS for Navigating Pain (COMPASS-NP), for HCWs with chronic pain.
• To integrate ergonomic tools and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principles into a secondary prevention strategy.
• To assess the effectiveness of COMPASS-NP in reducing pain interference and improving health outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A translational study adapting the COMPASS program for online delivery to HCWs.
• A cluster-randomized waitlist control trial involving 140 HCWs across 14 groups.
• Mixed-methods evaluation assessing effectiveness (pain interference, behaviors, severity, medication use) and implementation.

Main Results:

• The primary hypothesis is that COMPASS-NP will reduce pain interference with work and daily life.
• Secondary outcomes include improvements in injury prevention behaviors, pain severity, and well-being.
• Qualitative data will assess implementation fidelity and guide future dissemination.

Conclusions:

• This study will advance understanding of secondary prevention for HCWs experiencing chronic pain.
• Findings will support the use of ergonomic tools and CBT to mitigate pain and disability.
• The research aims to promote appropriate analgesic medication use among HCWs.