We’re actively recruiting for 8 individuals who would be willing and able to participate in our Thriving Beyond Pain Project to participate in Thriving Beyond Pain interdisciplinary group program prior to taking on a mentor and online support group moderator role within their local community!

This exciting project is supported by once off and time-limited funding from Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN) through the Australian Government’s PHN Program.

• Face-to-face engagement for 2 participants in Cairns

• Virtual/telehealth engagement for 2 participants each from the following regions:

  • Cape & Torres Region

  • Mackay

  • Townsville

• Individual intake and discharge assessments, pre and post the five-week interdisciplinary group pain program with the following Thriving Lives Co. allied health professionals:

  • Exercise Physiologist

  • Occupational Therapist

  • Physiotherapist

  • Psychologist

• Twice weekly workshops over a period of five weeks:

  • Tuesdays and Thursdays

  • 5-6 hours per day

  • Hours between 8am-4pm

  • Combination of interactive group-based educational, activity-based, land-based exercise/movement workshops, and hydrotherapy

  • Independent engagement in assigned homework including resource and learning activity books review and activity engagement

• Participation in training from Thriving Lives Co. pain care team to facilitate and moderate an online community for people with a lived experience of persistent pain and mental illness

  • Completion of online self-paced training of 3 hours duration

  • Engage in ongoing weekly shops for co-design and refinement of the project and to support and moderate online community

• Take on an administrative/moderator role of a new online community specifically for individuals in their local region experiencing persistent pain for a period of 3-12 months with the following Purpose and Aims:

  • Purpose:

    • Facilitate and sustainably moderate a motivated, inspired, and well-resourced peer-led support community that promotes best-practice pain care, improves healthcare access behaviours, and enhances overall wellbeing in Far North Queensland

  • Aims:

    • Encourage best-practice pain management and well-informed healthcare-seeking behaviours within the community

    • Facilitate ongoing peer-led discussion and learning from those with lived experience of persistent pain

    • Build a strong sense of community to reduce isolation, improve mental illness, and support suicide prevention via allowing them to share experiences and support each other

    • Share free, accessible, and consistent information grounded in contemporary pain science

    • Identify and promote local resources, services, and health professionals

• Take on a pain-informed lived experience peer mentor role for a period of 3 months to empower and upskill two other individuals with a lived experience of recovery from persistent pain to take over the administrative/moderater role of the online community

• Participation in a Lived Experience Advisory Group to provide constructive and honest feedback via semi-structured interviews and/or surveys and/or group co-design workshops to Thriving Lives Co. regarding their experiences to evaluate the success of this initiative at 3, 6, and 12 month intervals for future service delivery and sustainability

• Be involved in recordings and community events as a person with a lived experience of pain and suicidality for ongoing marketing and awareness regarding the value of learning about pain and pain-related key topics for improved health outcomes for people living with physical and psychological pain, including reduced suicidality distress, and improved quality of life and helpful/adaptive coping strategies