Feb 24, 2021
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, use of digital technology in healthcare has become commonplace, but Dr. Tonya Palermo, PhD has spent more than 2 decades researching and developing digital interventions for management of children's pain.
In this episode she discusses the origin and development of her free app for self management of pediatric pain, WebMAP, its components, who its applicable for and how healthcare professionals can use it in their clinical practice to empower and equip their patients and families with self management strategies.
Takeaways in This Episode
- How serendipity got Dr. Palermo on the path to becoming the most prolific researcher in pediatric pain
- Dr. Palermo's first foray into digital interventions for accurate measurement of pediatric pain using a palm pilot, for patterns of pain and patterns of activity limitation.
- Use of website to collect data and offer simple interventions for kids and families living in remote areas.
- Surprising finding she saw in relation to acceptance and outcomes from these interventions
- The platform to deliver interventions designed to improve pain care and lifestyle interventions that promote wellness and change in behaviors (Hint: Psychology based interventions).
- Precursor to the WebMAP program and its progression
- What WebMAP is, who it is for, and how HCPs can integrate it in clinical care. (Tips Sheet included in the links link)
- What they did to ensure and drive patient/parent engagement
- Uniques feature and opportunities for improvement of WebMAP
- Challenges associated with use of m-health and digital interventions in healthcare
- Whats working and what she’s focused on now and
in future
- How she manages to do it all and what advice she has for the aspiring professionals
Links
Pediatric Pain and Sleep Innovations Lab
Tip Sheet for Healthcare Professionals
Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP)
Proactive Pain Solutions Physicians Academy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain In Children and Adolescents
Managing your Child's Chronic Pain
About the Speaker
Dr. Tonya Palermo is a professor of anesthesiology, pediatrics and psychiatry at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She serves as associate director for the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development. Palermo’s longstanding NIH-funded research program has focused on assessment and treatment of chronic pain in children and adolescents. She is specifically interested in cognitive-behavioral interventions; delivery of psychological treatment via eHealth and mHealth interventions; sleep disturbances; and parent/family factors as they relate to pain treatment. Through her work as program director for the University of Washington Anesthesiology T32 program and for the Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program in Pain Research, Palermo is active in training clinician–scientists at the postdoctoral and junior faculty level.
Palermo serves on the executive boards of the Society of Pediatric Psychology and the American Pain Society, serves as editor of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology and has been elected a fellow of the American Psychological Association. She also serves as a member of the advisory council for the Center for Scientific Review at NIH.