Kettering Health has been awarded a 3-year, $1.39 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to bolster an existing program aimed at reducing the spread of the opioid epidemic. The PAUSE – Not All Pain Is the Same program helps clinicians across the country provide opioid-free care by offering education on alternatives to opioids for five key types of pain: benign headache, dental pain, neck or back pain, joint pain, and benign abdominal pain.

The grant will expand the efforts of PAUSE by funding the placement of emergency center pain navigators in all thirteen Kettering Health emergency centers. Pain navigators connect with patients during their visit and after discharge to maximize opioid-free pain management. The funding will also be used to host additional training sessions for providers to learn more about utilizing opioid alternatives, identifying Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and connecting patients with necessary addiction recovery services. The grant will also support the creation and distribution of educational materials for patients to provide more information of opioid misuse and addiction recovery. 

“Not all benign pain requires treatment with an opioid. PAUSE focuses on implementing alternatives in these situations that effectively manage pain without exposing patients to potentially addictive substances,” said Dr. Nancy Pook, Kettering Health emergency medical director and founder of PAUSE. “Thanks to this grant, we are able to expand our efforts to curtail opioid prescriptions and continue doing our part to help stop the cycle of addiction.”

Dr. Pook created the PAUSE program in 2016 in response to data showing that patients prescribed high-doses of long-acting opioids are at an increased risk for opioid dependency or overdose death. Since the implementation of PAUSE, Kettering Health’s use of opioids has dropped approximately 20 percent and repeat emergency visits for minor pain complaints have decreased by more than 50 percent. Providers interested in learning more should contact grantmgt@ketteringhealth.org.

This project is supported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $1,395,284 with 0% financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by SAMHSA, HHS or the US Government. For more information, please visit www.samhsa.gov.