Training addiction counselors to deliver a brief psychoeducational intervention for chronic pain among patients in opioid agonist treatment: A pilot investigation

Background: Despite high rates of chronic pain among their patients, opioid agonist treatment (OAT) counselors report an absence of training to manage chronic pain. Methods: A multidisciplinary team developed a tailored training for counselors to screen and address chronic pain via a brief psychosocial intervention, and implemented it with 52 addiction counselors. Data on knowledge (9 true-false items) as well as attitudes, interest, and perceived ability (scored on 5-point Likert-type scales) were collected from counselors before (pre-test), after (post-test) training, and after 6 months (follow-up). Results: Pre-test knowledge scores varied considerably. Compared to pre-test, mean counselor knowledge scores increased significantly post-training and at follow-up (p's.