Pre-Meeting Focuses on Bridging the Gap Between Behavioral Health, Pain Management, and Substance Use

Prescription drug abuse, heroin use, and opioid overdose deaths have dramatically increased in recent years. Since 1999, sales of prescription opioids in the US have quadrupled and from 1999 to 2014, more than 165,000 people have died from overdoses related to prescription opioids. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently developed and published guidelines for prescribing opioids for chronic pain. Despite this, there is a well-known clinical gap in knowledge with regard to the management of pain in patients with psychiatric disorders. It is imperative that clinical pharmacists be at the forefront of providing ongoing education on the appropriate use of opioid medications in patients with behavioral health conditions, while also advocating for the expanded implementation of opioid overdose strategies.

This workshop will provide the audience with an opportunity to discuss clinical cases that include patients with both behavioral health and pain management needs. Participants will also receive hands-on experience on how to screen for substance use disorders, as well as how to educate patients and providers on the use of naloxone rescue therapy and other harm reduction strategies. You will leave this workshop with:

• Knowledge of the history of opioid medication use
• Insights into appropriately using opioid medications for chronic pain management 
• Recognition of the intersection between pain management, behavioral health, and subtance use
• Strategies to treat opioid use disorder while concurrently treating pain
• Expertise in opioid overdose management strategies and methods for naloxone rescue advocacy

Speakers

Chris Herndon, PharmD, BCPS, CPE, FASHP, is an Associate Professor with the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) School of Pharmacy and Clinical Associate Professor with the St. Louis University School of Medicine. Currently, Dr. Herndon sees chronic pain patients in a multidisciplinary setting within a large family medicine residency clinic. Dr. Herndon’s scholarship interest focuses primarily on pain and palliative care education and he is the Principal Investigator for the National Institutes of Health Center of Excellence in Pain Education at SIUE. Dr. Herndon is the 2006 recipient of the “Pain Champion Award” from the Alliance of State Pain Initiatives, the 2012 recipient of the “Academic Pain Educator of the Year Award” from the American Society of Pain Educators, and “Pharmacist of the Year” from the Illinois Pharmacist’s Association.

James Gasper, PharmD, BCPP, is a psychiatric and substance use disorder pharmacist for the California Department of Health Care Services. His present initiatives include expanding access to treatment for substance use disorders, implementing the availability of naloxone, and improving the safety of opioid analgesics. Beyond his work for the Department, he serves as a consultant for the UCSF Clinician Consultation Center Substance Abuse Warmline and as a clinical pharmacist for the El Dorado Community Health Center. Dr. Gasper has been an investigator on several NIH sponsored research grants including the use of naloxone for opioid safety, smoking cessation in opioid dependence treatment, and the pharmacological management of methamphetamine addiction.

Registration Fees

Registration is available at cpnp.org/register and registration fees are as follows:

*Early registration fees are available through March 23, 2017. After March 23, 2017, registration fees increase.