Whole Health pain-management teams to improve veterans' function and opioid safety
Pain management teams using Whole Health to optimize function and safety in veterans: The TEAMWORK trial
This project will offer team-based Whole Health care to veterans with chronic pain to help them function better and make opioid use safer.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | VA Connecticut Healthcare System NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (West Haven, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11190844 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would get care from an interdisciplinary pain management team that combines pain medicine, addiction medicine, behavioral health, and rehabilitation under Whole Health principles. The teams provide multimodal pain treatments and options to reduce opioid-related harms, including offering buprenorphine for opioid dependence when appropriate. The project focuses on building, supporting, and spreading these teams across VA medical centers using implementation methods. The goal is to improve day-to-day functioning and reduce unsafe opioid use among veterans with high-impact chronic pain.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are veterans with high-impact chronic pain, especially those who are using opioids or are at risk for opioid-related harms.
Not a fit: People without chronic pain, non-veterans, or individuals who do not receive care at participating VA facilities are unlikely to benefit directly from this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could improve pain-related function and reduce opioid-related harms for veterans.
How similar studies have performed: Interdisciplinary pain teams and Whole Health approaches have shown promise but specific pain management team models remain limited, and the study team previously implemented a similar model at a small number of VA sites.
Where this research is happening
West Haven, United States
- VA Connecticut Healthcare System — West Haven, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Edmond, Sara — VA Connecticut Healthcare System
- Study coordinator: Edmond, Sara
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.