Associate Professor Tasha Stanton
Clinical Pain Neuroscience UniSA Allied Health & Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide
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Associate Professor Tasha Stanton leads the Persistent Pain Research Group at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and is co-Director of IIMPACT in Health at The University of South Australia, Adelaide.
She is a clinical pain neuroscientist, with original training as a physiotherapist. Her research focusses on pain – why do we have it and why doesn’t it go away? She has received >$9.6m in competitive research funding, has published >120 peer-reviewed journal articles, and she has been a keynote/invited speaker at >110 national and international conferences. Her research has won both national and international awards, including the World Congress of Pain Ronald Dubner research award, the Australian Pain Society Rising Star Award and the Australian Physiotherapy Association Best New Investigator Award. |
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Her research group works closely with consumers and with clinicians to identify real-world problems and devise new solutions. She has a specific interest in chronic pain, osteoarthritis, pain science education, and novel technologies, such as virtual and mediated reality, to enhance exercise engagement.
Words Matter: Shifting to a Contemporary Pain-Science Informed Narrative of Osteoarthritis
Every clinical practice guideline for osteoarthritis recommends education, exercise, and weight management as first-line care. Yet people with osteoarthritis are often directly referred to surgery, never receiving the opportunity to benefit from this first-line care. Why? It comes down to the beliefs society holds about osteoarthritis itself, and thus, how we view what treatment is required. Osteoarthritis is typically believed to be a wear-and-tear disease of the joints that progresses over time, with increased cartilage loss leaving the joints bone-on-bone, requiring surgery to replace the damaged, vulnerable joint. However, new evidence from pain science suggests that many of these presumed “facts” about osteoarthritis are inaccurate. This talk will discuss the contemporary understanding of osteoarthritis, highlighting the evidence supporting sustained bioplasticity – i.e., the capacity for change – even in severe disease. It will explore the importance of the language we use, namely providing a new evidence-based narrative for what osteoarthritis is and why treatments like exercise will help. Such a narrative shift holds critical importance in ensuring uptake of best practice, evidence-based allied health management to delay, or even prevent, joint replacement surgery.
TOPP Day - The Modern Understanding of Osteoarthritis and What It Means for GPs
Osteoarthritis is common, affecting 1 in every 2 older adults. As GPs, chances are you see these patients every day, and you may feel unsure about what treatments you should recommend or you might feel very sure that a quick referral to a surgeon is the answer. Either way, this talk is for you. When considering treatment options, every clinical practice guideline for osteoarthritis recommends education, exercise, and weight management as first-line care. Yet many people with osteoarthritis never receive the opportunity to benefit from this first-line care. As GPs, you are perfectly positioned to change this. But why might you consider referring someone who is ‘bone on bone’ to a physiotherapist for exercise? Why would that help? These questions are valid, particularly when we view osteoarthritis solely as a wear-and-tear disease of the joints that progresses over time. However, new evidence suggests that this is NOT an accurate depiction of osteoarthritis. This talk will discuss the contemporary understanding of osteoarthritis, highlighting the evidence supporting sustained bioplasticity – i.e., the capacity for change – even in severe disease. It will explore the importance of the language we use, namely providing a new evidence-based narrative for what osteoarthritis is and why treatments like exercise will help. Such a narrative shift holds critical importance in ensuring uptake of best practice, evidence-based allied health management to delay, or even prevent, joint replacement surgery. Finally, this talk will discuss practical suggestions and strategies that you can use on Monday, that are both evidence-informed and implementable in the context of short clinical appointment times.
