Kids Are Not Small Adults: Need for Pediatric Pain Care

Historically children’s pain has been poorly understood and treated, replete with misconceptions that though improving, still persist. Children deserve to be tended to with proper treatment and care. In order for them to grow healthy, responsible and happy citizens of the world, they need to be in an environment that fosters growth, learning and protects them from unnecessary suffering and illness.

Children are not small adults. In this episode, I’m joined with Dr. Finley, a pediatric anesthesiologist and pain physician, to discuss what’s unique about pediatric pain and why we can’t just treat children as small adults especially when it comes to pain management.

Dr. Finley is a trailblazer in pediatric pain medicine. He is the co-leader of the ChildKind International Initiative, and has worked for over 20 years in pain research and management. He has published over 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has lectured widely, with more than 230 invited presentations on six continents. Dr. Finley is passionate about pain service development and how to spread awareness and better improve pain care for children.

Listen to this episode as we talk about what we can do as healthcare professionals to advance pediatric pain medicine and serve more children!

Takeaways In This Episode

• The role Canadian healthcare professionals have played in the development of pediatric pain research
• What’s unique about the environment in Canada that allows pediatric pain research to flourish
• What’s unique about children and their pain
• The biggest reason (and other barriers) for failure to treat pain
• How we can achieve pain treatment for kids more responsibly
• The skills that pediatric practitioners need for appropriate management of pediatric pain
• The four components of a comprehensive pain management program
• Dr. Finley’s advice to aspiring clinicians wanting to pursue a career in pediatric pain management

Links

• Allen Finley, MD FRCPC, FAAP 
• • LinkedIn
  • Email: allen.finley@dal.ca
• Cultivating Resilience During Times of Stress and Trauma 
• Pediatric Pain: a team sport in need of transformation 
• 3 Areas every healthcare provider can influence to improve children’s pain care 
• PEDIATRIC-PAIN Listserve 
• ChildKind International 
• IASP Virtual Series
• Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP)  
• Proactive Pain Solutions Physicians Academy

About Our Guest

Dr. Allen Finley

Dr. Allen Finley is a pediatric anesthesiologist who has worked for 25 years in pain research and management. He is Professor of Anesthesia and Psychology at Dalhousie University, and holds the inaugural Dr. Stewart Wenning