Simona Bujoreanu, PhD: the Biopsychosocial Model of Chronic Pain

"When it comes to chronic pain in the pediatric population, it actually takes a village," said Simona Bujoreanu, PhD, Pediatric Psychologist, Pain Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital, Associate Director, Comfort Ability Program, Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School.

Burjoreanu explained that chronic pain is best understood from the biopsychosocial perspective, where aspects of the biological and genetic makeup of an individual are factored in with their psychological functioning and interactions with the world.

She addressed this topic in her presentation: Tools to Tackle Chronic Pain Syndromes during the American Academy of Pediatrics conference. This approach goes beyond just a medication-based, or intervention-based treatment from a medical perspective and takes on a more rehabilitative multidisciplinary approach.

The biopsychosocial model is well-known in the medical community but Bujoreanu hopes it becomes more understood in family and patient education. Many people think of chronic pain treatment specifically from a medical perspective, but this model can be a crucial point of intervention to better understand and treat chronic pain.

Bujoreanu shared that the ultimate focus of managing chronic pain is not necessarily pain elimination, but improvement in functioning, and returning to life while in the presence of pain.