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VHA Pain Management

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Opioid Safety - Veteran/Patient Education

patient education


Patient and family education is one of the foundations of high-quality pain care. This section is regularly updated and contains links to high-quality information about pain and its treatment.

Resources

Title/Link  Source Description
VA/DoD CLINICAL PRACTICE GUIDELINE FOR OPIOID THERAPY FOR CHRONIC PAIN - Patient Summary (PDF) Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense Brief overview of chronic pain, its treatment, and key common questions patients have about opioid medications
What to Ask Your Doctor Before Taking Opioids  handout * FDA US Food & Drug Administration Questions Veterans/patient should ask their health care professional when getting a new prescribription for opioid, such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, codeine and morphine.
 (PDF)* FDA US Food & Drug Administration Bring this opioid questions checklist to your doctor’s office
Safe and Responsible Use of Opioids for Chronic Pain - A Patient Information Guide (PDF)  VA National Center for Ethics in HealthCare Safe and Responsible Use of Opioids for Chronic Pain
* Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) This information offers safety advice for patients & family members to help prevent opioid-related overdoses.
Opioid Factsheet for Patients (PDF) * Center for Disease Control Prevention (CDC) Prescription Opioids:  What You Need to Know
   handout * Center for Disease Control Prevention (CDC) Living with chronic pain can be challenging. It is essential that you and your doctor discuss treatment options with all of the risks and benefits carefully considered. 
Prescribe to Prevent - Patient Videos  video *  Prescribe to Prevent Patient resources and videos demonstrating overdose recognition and response, including naloxone administration.

 Opioids - Resource Topics

Clinical Tools Provider Education Veteran Public Education  Other Resources Opiod Safety 

Disclaimer: *Links will take you outside of the Department of Veterans Affairs Website. VA does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of the linked websites.