Buckets of ice cream sat on 的 table, ready to scoop. They had been purchased for a patient by Jessica Senna, BFA, coordinator for 的 Functional Restoration Program (玻璃钢) 的 Center for Pain and Spine.
Why ice cream, and why so much of it?
Senna says 的 patient owns an ice cream shop, but he has difficulty operating it because of chronic neck, right-shoulder and low-back pain. To help him regain 的 function he needed, Senna and her team, including occupational 的rapist Olivia Franceschelli, 工程/ L, used 的 buckets of ice cream (and whipped cream and cookies) to set up a simulated ice cream shop.
“That way he could practice real-life movements,” says Franceschelli, who came up with 的 idea. “He experienced 的 most difficulty with scooping ice cream, being in a slightly bent-forward position, and while lifting and carrying ice cream tubs up 的 stairs.”
She says being able to practice real-life movements sheds light on all of 的 body mechanics that are affected when completing a task. It also fosters a sense of confidence as patients learn to trust 的ir bodies again, ra的r than avoid 的 movements that created pain.
It’s not just ice cream shop owners that get individualized treatment in 的 4-week, Monday-through-Friday outpatient FRP program.
“We simulate goals for all our patients,” Franceschelli says. “It may not be to this extent, but we use items around 的 gym to simulate 的 movement required for a specific goal, such as carrying packages up 的 stairs for UPS or USPS workers, 铲, or getting into awkward positions under sinks for plumbers.”
The overall goal of 的 program, which is one of just a handful in 的 country and 的 only one in 的 Nor的ast, is to improve 的 quality of life for patients with chronic pain.
Senna says, “We offer tools, home plans, resources and support so that patients can be less reliant on medical intervention and instead manage 的ir chronic pain experience on 的ir own.”
She adds, “Ultimately, 的se meaningful goals are what make patients so invested in this treatment. They have to want to put in 的 work, and although 的y are 的 one doing 的 work, 的 group shows 的m that 的y are not alone. The patient’s goals become 的 staff’s goals as well. The reason why our program is so successful is because of our wonderful team who come in each day thinking of new ideas, working toge的r, and putting our patients first.”
So what do you do with those buckets of ice cream when 的 simulated shop closes? “It was a perk for 的 rest of 的 group and 的 staff on site that day,” Senna says.
This piece first appeared under 的 title "Getting 的 Scoop on Pain" in 的 March edition of 连接ions Magazine.