In episode 14, we are speaking to chronic pain pharmacist, Kelly Kizlyk, who works with a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals with MedSask at the University of Saskatchewan. Kelly shares her journey that has led her to becoming a chronic pain pharmacist and the lessons she’s learned along the way, culminating her current position of helping people who live with chronic pain be better able to make informed and supported decisions about their medication needs. 

She touches on the many roles she has, including self-management, assessment, medication management (such as best possible med history, med selection and dosing, interactions, monitoring, and de-prescribing), opioid stewardship, and advocacy for people living with chronic pain.

Patient (or client)-centered care is the heart of Kelly’s work, and she discusses how she puts the needs of people living with pain at the forefront by engaging in shared decision-making instead of telling people what they should be doing by giving information and supporting them through the decision-making process. 

She also talks about how important it is to stay curious and actively listen to people about the choices they make, rather than judging them or their circumstances. This helps to hear the experiences that shape people’s decision-making processes, as the risk and benefits of medications vary by individual, so hearing each person’s lived experience is essential in helping them make good decisions about their medications.

Kelly concludes that, by emphasizing the importance of relationship-building with and between people living with pain, chronic pain pharmacists like herself play an important role in supporting the pain community by giving people space to be human.

Additional Links and Resources
For more information on the MedSask program, visit https://medsask.usask.ca/
For other pharmacy resources in Saskatchewan, check out https://usask.ca/pharmacist
For opioid-specific information, check out the MAC iOPS program https://pharmacy-nutrition.usask.ca/mac/healthcare-professionals/about-the-mac-iops.php

SaskPain Website
SaskPain Facebook

A thank you to our sponsors and supporters:
The Saskatchewan Pain Society
The Community Initiatives Fund
Our Editor, Chris Enns, of Lemon Productions

We happily welcome feedback on this podcast, and are always looking for guests to speak to! Contact us at info@saskpain.ca, or message us on our Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn pages if you would like more information or to get involved in the podcast.