Life Care Specialists (LCS) With a Focus on Patient Pain Management and Prevention of Substance Misuse

Summary

The overall hypothesis of this randomized-controlled trial is that the introduction of a Life Care Specialist (LCS) as a novel member of the clinical care team will help reduce opioid utilization, decrease pain scores, and improve patient understanding of their addiction risk in the aftermath of orthopaedic trauma.

Conditions

• Opioid Use

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Life Care Specialist (LCS) Intervention

The Life Care Specialist (LCS) uses a two-arm approach to education by initially assessing participants general understanding of opioids upon which targeted education is tailored and applied and secondly, building a longitudinal relationship with each patient to increase the saliency of administered opioid education during postoperative follow-up. Information includes proper disposal, common symptoms of opioid use, signs of dependence and overdose and use of naloxone. Information is disseminated orally with adjunct physical resource guides including visual representations and literature.

OTHER

Clinical Coordination with Referrals

The Life Care Specialist (LCS) can help arrange a referral for the participant, should a medical or social issue be identified during LCS intervention, including mental health services, addiction medicine services, housing insecurity referrals, food insecurity referrals, and amputee support. When giving referrals, the LCS works closely with physicians and nurses to make sure that the participant is a good fit for the referral program.

BEHAVIORAL

Pilot Study of Pain Management Strategies

Orthopedic trauma patients will work with a Life Care Specialist (LCS) and will receive personalized pain management strategies to avoid potential opioid misuse.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Christopher Wolf Crusade (CWC)

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  collaborator FED

• Emory University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Mara Schenker, MD · Emory University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-02-21

Primary Completion

2022-12-19

Completion

2022-12-19

Countries

• United States

Study Locations