AGM

Present were: David Craig, Robin McKinlay, Jonathan Oates and Lars Williams.

1. Committee posts: Lew-Chin Chee has stepped down as treasurer, and we thank her for her hard work over the years. Jonathan Oates kindly agreed to fill the post of treasurer, and David Craig has stepped in as secretary. Lars Williams will stay on for another year as chairman.

2. Evening meetings: attendance over the year 2007-8 has been reasonable, though still not as high as we had hoped. We all agreed we should concentrate more on local speakers - there are a lot of initiatives and projects taking place in the west of Scotland, and the WoSPG could be a good forum for presenting and publicising local work. The NBPA meetings are probably a better place for 'big name' speakers.

3. Venue: we know the SGH isn't ideal, and we'll look again into finding a more central venue, eg the Royal College of Physicians building on St Vincent St.

4. Training days: in recognition of our growing membership, many of whom are relatively new to the field of pain, we are hoping to hold an educational / training day in the near future, with a mixture of teaching and workshops. Possible topics include communication skills, research and audit.

5. 2008-9 meetings: a few ideas were discussed, and David will be getting in touch with potential speakers soon. We will retain the current arrangement of 3 meetings (one every 2nd month), plus the joint meeting with the East of Scotland Group, maybe Feb 09. We will reinstate the postal notification of meetings (the 'wee card') as well as continuing with e-mails.

Hope to see some of you at meetings when we start again in October

Lars Williams

Chairman, West of Scotland Pain Group

Tick awareness week - Borreliosis

Borreliosis may present as an unusual pain syndrome:

Read this doc on Scribd: Outdoor Pursuits Leaflet

Medical NLP - Health Practitioner Certification Training

Read this doc on Scribd: Medical NLP Health Practitioner Licence Training

Read this doc on Scribd: The Society of Medical NLP

Getting to grips with chronic pain

The NHS QIS report is available here:
http://www.nhshealthquality.org/nhsqis/files/GRIPS_booklet_lowres.pdf

Articles in The Herald:
NHS admits it is failing thousands suffering chronic pain
The pain barrier that has to be broken
The truth often hurts

Mindfulness with Jon Kabat-Zinn

Continuing our theme of Mindfulness, this is a talk given by Jon Kabat-Zinn to an audience at Google.

Zombies and pain - listen to the lecture

Zombie philosophy - more than a professor with a hangover? How does colourblind Mary know that her lamb is white? And what has this nonsense to do with pain? Dr Tillmann Vierkant of the University of Edinburgh explains to the combined meeting of the East and West of Scotland Pain Groups.

Listen again:
Download mp3 of lecture 37.8Mb Duration: 1:18:51
Listen to lo-fi stream

Further reading:
Zombie Mary and the Blue Banana
Consciousness: an introduction - Susan J Blackmore
The conscious mind : in search of a fundamental theory - David Chalmers

Photo: CC maliciawalls

Notice of meeting: NBPA Spring Scientific meeting

Read this doc on Scribd: North British Pain Association - Spring Scientific Meeting amended programme

Notice of meeting: Joint meeting of the East and West of Scotland Pain Groups

Joint meeting of the East and West of Scotland Pain Groups

When: Thursday 28th February 2008

"Zombies and Pain!" - Dr Tillmann Vierkant, Edinburgh University Dept of Philosophy

Venue: The Scotsman Hotel, North Bridge, Edinburgh

Coffee & registration: 6–7pm

Lecture & discussion: 7–8pm

To be followed by a meal

Registration £10, send cheque made payable to "The East of Scotland Pain Group" to
Dr Steve Gilbert, Pain Clinic, Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline KY12 0SU

Email: stephen.gilbert@nhs.net or phone 01383 623623 ext 4749

Slides - New Directions

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Lecture: New directions in the psychology of chronic pain management - Dr Lance McCracken

Listen again:
Download mp3 of lecture 34.4Mb Duration: 1:11:35
Listen to lo-fi stream

Further reading:
DAHL, J., & LUNDGREN, T. (2006). Living beyond your pain using acceptance and commitment therapy to ease chronic pain. Oakland, CA, New Harbinger Publications.
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/63472470

HAYES, S. C., STROSAHL, K., & WILSON, K. G. (1999). Acceptance and commitment therapy an experiential approach to behavior change. New York, Guilford Press.
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/41712470

MCCRACKEN, L. M. (2005). Contextual cognitive-behavioral therapy for chronic pain. Progress in pain research and management, v. 33. Seattle, IASP Press.
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/57564664