Is there a potential future role for teachers in mitigating the chronic pain and opioid epidemics?

Background: Chronic pain in children and adolescents is a widespread and costly public health issue, often leading to long-term biopsychosocial and educational consequences. Contemporary pain neuroscience education (CPNE) delivered by healthcare providers leads to improvements in school attendance, pain medication usage, participation in activities, and healthcare utilization. Education students—future classroom teachers—are well-positioned to mitigate the burden of chronic pain and related opioid misuse among school-aged children.

Methods: This pre-post within-subject experimental study delivered CPNE to undergraduate education students through two 75-minute classroom sessions. Participants completed the rNPQ and COPI-adult to assess pain knowledge and beliefs and reported levels of interest, perceived usefulness, and confidence in teaching CPNE.

Results: rNPQ and COPI median scores statistically improved with high effect sizes and participants were interested in, perceived usefulness of, and were confident about helping future students understand CPNE.

Implications for School Health Policy, Practice, and Equity: CPNE may be part of a broader educational effort to promote learning, reduce opioid dependence among students, and support students experiencing pain.

Conclusions: There is an opportunity for teachers to positively impact a culture shift towards non-pharmacologic pain management, potentially mitigating the future burden of chronic pain and suffering in younger generations.