Improving care for low back pain in South Australia

Help us shape an optimal system of care for the management of low back pain in South Australia.

What's being decided?

We want to identify the key components needed to provide better care for low back pain in our community.

We have developed an optimal system of care for low back pain in consultation with a range of consumers and clinical and industry experts. We now want to hear from the broader community to understand the positive aspects of the proposed model and explore where improvements are needed.

We are keen to learn from you. Whether you are:

• involved in the care and management of low back pain (e.g., a clinician, health professional, researcher),
• a key organisation representing people living with pain,
• experiencing low back pain yourself or have a friend or family member with low back pain, or,
• someone with limited personal experience with low back pain but have a range of other skills that could help inform the design of this system.

We are committed to understanding how people experience care for low back pain and to fostering improvements that could benefit our community and the health system.

Background

The Chronic Pain Statewide Clinical Network through the leadership of the Commission on Excellence and Innovation in Health (the CEIH) is undertaking a project to support more appropriate and consistent care for people with low back pain in the community.

Low back pain is a common, costly, and complex condition for which there is no one-size fits all solution. Unfortunately, many people with low back pain rely on the hospital system for treatment. However, evidence shows that most people can be appropriately managed in the community if they have access to services which follow best-practice clinical guidelines.

The optimal system of care for the management of low back pain aims to:

• Improve the early assessment, management, review, and appropriate care pathway navigation for people with low back pain.
• Reduce low back pain related presentations to the Emergency Department by delivering a viable best-practice alternative.
• Encourage self-management and usual activity by the person experiencing low back pain, empowering the person in their care journey.
• Promote multidisciplinary assessment and management of low back pain within a community healthcare setting and care team.

Get involved

Find out more:

• Read the Consultation Paper describing the proposed optimal system of care for low back pain in South Australia.
• View the Diagram of the proposed optimal system of care.
• Take a look at our FAQs.
• Watch our short informative video.

Have your say by:

• Taking our survey.
• Sharing a comment on the ‘guestbook’.
• Sharing your story.
• Showing us where you are from on the map.

What are the next steps?

Your feedback will help refine a comprehensive and effective system of care, prior to exploring how the model may be implemented.

We will utilise this information to finalise the optimal system of care for low back pain and will share a summary of what we’ve heard on this site.

The final optimal system of care for low back will be published in the new year. It will be used to seek resources and support partnerships to pilot and/or commission the model across metropolitan and regional areas.