Episode 107 - Pain Medication with Dr Ria Hopkins

In this episode we are joined by Dr Ria Hopkins from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) at the University of New South Wales. Ria is also a member of the Medicines Intelligence Centre for Research Excellence (MI-CRE). Ria chats with us about her work looking at prescribing patterns of medication used to manage pain. We talk at length about the recent trends in Australia and the opioid-related issues that have been experienced in the United States in recent years. Ria also talks us through the non-pharmaceutical therapy options that should also be considered for patients who are experiencing chronic pain, such as physical therapy, and psychological support. You can read more about Ria and her work here: https://www.unsw.edu.au/staff/ria-hopkins You can read about MI-CRE here: https://www.unsw.edu.au/medicine-health/our-schools/population-health/research/centre-research-excellence-medicines-intelligence As always, if you want to get in touch with the podcast, you can contact us at: meaningofhealth@outlook.com Instagram or Twitter/X @healthmeanswhat FaceBook @MeaningofHealth