Centre for Pediatric Pain Research

11/13/2025

11/13/2025

🗓 Happening today - Thursday Nov 13 at Dalhousie University at 11:30am. Join us!

A reminder to join us tomorrow for the Terry Anders Memorial Lecture with guest speaker Dr. Kathryn Birnie (UCalgary, Dalhousie Clinical Psych PhD’16) for her talk “Mobilizing Pain Science in Psychology: From Lab Research to Health Systems Change.” See you there!

🗓️ Nov. 13
🕦 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.
📍LSC P4260

Hosted by Dr. Christine Chambers. Reception to follow.

11/08/2025

“I’ve seen firsthand how unmanaged or undertreated pain can negatively affect recovery, satisfaction, and overall outcomes for both patients and staff,” says Krista Naugler, Professional Practice Leader, Coordinator, & Child Life Specialist, Child Life Services. “By working together, we can drive meaningful practice changes and help ensure that new, evidence-based approaches to pain management are not only understood but also actively incorporated into care. Being a pain champion allows me to contribute to this change while promoting a culture that prioritizes both compassion and clinical excellence.”

As a Professional Practice Leader Naugler has a strong focus on optimizing the scopes of practice of those professions working in Child Life Services, including child life specialists, child life workers, the therapeutic clown and music therapist.

“Being a pain champion has created meaningful opportunities for our Child Life team to share and collaborate on initiatives that directly support our ChildKind certification,” says Naugler. “It has brought greater awareness to the vital work our team does as we strive to provide the best possible support for children and families. Additionally, it has given me valuable insight into the efforts of other members of the interdisciplinary and research teams, opening the door to new networks and collaborations that ultimately strengthen our collective approach to pain management.”

“Pain champions help drive practice change at the IWK that directly enhances the care experience for patients and families,” says Naugler. “They support the development and implementation of new resources aimed at improving pain management, comfort positioning and coping plans for patients having procedures. These changes contribute to more positive healthcare experiences, increased trust, and ultimately, better outcomes for the children and families we serve!”

The IWK is committed to doing everything we can to prevent and treat pain through our Comfort Promises. IWK Pain Champions lead the way in using proven pain management methods and help create a culture that prioritizes comfort and care for all ages.

National Pain Awareness Week (November 2-8, 2025) is dedicated to raising awareness about chronic pain, its widespread impact, and the need for better access to care.

11/07/2025

November 2 to 8 marks National Pain Awareness Week.

In 2022, 16.7% of Canadians aged 15 years and over had a pain-related disability. https://ow.ly/7amm50Xo5iN

11/06/2025

Managing pediatric pain can be challenging. Children are unique, and solutions to their pain need to be tailored, but resources and tools exist to help deliver care that has real impact. Canada’s first national Pediatric Pain Management Health standard developed by SKIP and the Health Standards Organization - HSO actions the Government of Canada’s Action Plan calling for quality, equitable pain care for all.

Click here to download the standard: https://tinyurl.com/5ez6xxtz

Check out Pain Canada’s NPAW toolkit to get involved! https://tinyurl.com/ycke48yh

11/05/2025

Huge congratulations to Dr. Nicole MacKenzie who graduated from Dalhousie University with her PhD in Clinical Psychology!

She was supervised by Dr. Christine Chambers (Dalhousie University) and Dr. Kathryn Birnie (University of Calgary).

You can read more about Dr. MacKenzie’s dissertation, A Multi-Method Examination of Partnership in Knowledge Mobilization for Pediatric Pain" through her published papers (open access = free to read/download):

🔗Bridging the gap: Identifying diverse stakeholder needs and barriers to accessing evidence and resources for children’s pain. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/24740527.2022.2045192

🔗Understanding the unique and common perspectives of partners engaged in knowledge mobilization activities within pediatric pain: A mixed methods study https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-024-10782-x

🔗Unique and shared partner priorities for supporting engagement in knowledge mobilization in pediatric pain: A best–worst scaling experiment https://health-policy-systems.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12961-025-01310-2

11/04/2025

Mark your calendars for application period opening on November 28, 2025

🗣️ Please share if you know anyone that might be interested to join leading experts in the pain research field for an exceptional week of training, networking and more!

Please visit the NAPS website for more information regarding the logistics of the event and a newly added Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section.

https://northamericanpainschool.com/registration/



Réseau québécois de recherche sur la douleur International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) Pain Research Forum Solutions for Kids in Pain Centre for Pediatric Pain Research Australian Pain Society Canadian Pain Society The British Pain Society Eli Lilly and Company United States Association for the Study of Pain UF Pain Research and Intervention Center of Excellence RQECD - QNJPI Chronic Pain Centre of Excellence Migraine Science Collaborative

11/04/2025

Healthcare Excellence Canada’s blog series ‘All Voices for Safer Care’ spotlights people and organizations across the country who are helping to redefine what safer care looks like in their communities and settings.

Read how Solutions for Kids in Pain and the Pediatric Pain Management health standard are closing gaps and improving care for kids in pain. https://tinyurl.com/2wx6fwmu

11/03/2025

“I was motivated to become a pain champion because I recognize that there is so much more to understand about pediatric pain than I ever thought,” says Emily Whitelaw, RN, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). “Working with this population requires its own specialized toolbox, and nothing is a one size fits all. I recognize the challenges that come with assessing a patient who is not able to communicate their pain to you, and how important being their voice and their advocate is.”

“Working in a busy hospital that serves all four Atlantic provinces, I've been lucky enough to work with families from all different walks of life. Experiencing and learning about the different cultures, backgrounds, and traditions of all of these people has improved my ability to offer compassionate and inclusive care,” says Whitelaw. “Now, working in an ICU, I am learning how the sedated and intubated patient will change their presentation and signals of pain. Using assessments like the FLACC score and the State Behavioral Scale to assess pain and sedation have added to my toolbox and strengthened my ability to champion pain control in the pediatric population.”

“I am at my best when I am advocating for my patients and take so much pride in the skills, I have acquired to do that, by being a Pain Champion.”

The IWK is committed to doing everything we can to prevent and treat pain through our Comfort Promises. IWK Pain Champions lead the way in using proven pain management methods and help create a culture that prioritizes comfort and care for all ages.

National Pain Awareness Week (November 2-8, 2025) is dedicated to raising awareness about chronic pain, its widespread impact, and the need for better access to care.

11/01/2025

The Chambers Lab were excited to participate in IWK Health's annual Halloween trick or treating today alongside the IWK's Pain Champions team!

Our teams gave out bubbles, stickers, activities sheets, hot/cold packs, and bandages...because

Special thanks to Solutions for Kids in Pain for sharing some of the pain management goodies to hand out to the kids!

10/30/2025

Unmanaged pain is a patient safety issue.

This quote from HSO’s World Patient Safety Day webinar reminds us that treating children’s pain effectively benefits everyone – from patients to providers to the entire healthcare system.

Want to learn more? Click here to watch the webinar: https://tinyurl.com/4aecwdku

Be part of the movement to close the gap for kids in pain!

Visit our landing page to see how you can get involved and take action today! https://kidsinpain.ca/help-close-the-gap-for-kids-in-pain/

Health Standards Organization - HSO

10/28/2025

“Every child deserves care that sees their pain, treats it seriously, and prioritizes their comfort as a measure of safety. Anything less is a broken promise to the children and families who trust Canadian hospitals to make them feel better.”

Read “When Healing Hurts: Why children’s pain must be treated as a patient safety incident” to learn more (link in bio!)

Be part of the movement to close the gap for kids in pain! Visit our landing page to see how you can get involved and take action today! https://kidsinpain.ca/help-close-the-gap-for-kids-in-pain/

Health Standards Organization - HSO