University of New Mexico Integrative Management of chronic Pain
and Opioid use disorder for Whole Recovery Center (UNM IMPOWR
Center)
Our Mission
The UNM IMPOWR Center is funded by the Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative, or NIH HEAL Initiative, an aggressive, trans-agency effort to speed scientific solutions to the national opioid public health crisis.
Chronic pain and opioid use disorder are major public health problems. The UNM IMPOWR Center takes an integrated and holistic approach to improving the lives of patients with chronic pain and opioid use disorder via tailored intervention approaches to meet the needs of diverse individuals in diverse communities. This project supports the strategic goals of several NIH institutes by examining a difficult and understudied problem with the ultimate goal of impacting scientific knowledge and improving human health and well-being.
Our Team
Our team includes an incredibly diverse group of researchers, treatment providers, administrators, and persons with lived experience. A visual depiction of our team is listed here.
Our Projects
The HOPE Trial (Healing Opioid misuse and Pain through Engagement) adapts a promising treatment for chronic pain and opioid use disorder that integrates medications for opioid use disorder, acceptance and commitment therapy, and mindfulness-based relapse prevention. The HOPE Trial uses an effectiveness-implementation hybrid type I design to simultaneously determine the effectiveness of this integrative treatment program as well as identify the barriers and facilitators of implementation.
The OPTIC Trial (Opioid and Pain Treatment in Indigenous Communities) will develop, implement, and evaluate culturally centered implementation strategies to improve screening and brief interventions (rooted in Native American Motivational Interviewing) with American Indian/Alaska Native clients with chronic pain and opioid misuse/opioid use disorder. The OPTIC Trial uses a cluster randomized implementation-effectiveness hybrid type II pragmatic trial using a stepped wedge design to examine both implementation and client outcomes.
Current pilot projects include a study using ecological momentary assessment to examine chronic pain, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and opioid use among pregnant women treated with medications for opioid use disorder (Pilot 1) and a study integrating mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy, and mHealth approaches for treating chronic pain and opioid use disorder (Pilot 2).
Additional information regarding our team's efforts can be found at the UNM IMPOWR Website: impowr.unm.edu
