With drug overdoses claiming an estimated 260 American lives each day, UNT Health Science Center’s work with the National Academy of Medicine is helping ensure today’s health professionals are better equipped to deliver coordinated, person-centered care.

A six-month pilot, which concluded in late 2024 and was announced by the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth in February, served as a proving ground for innovative educational models.

HSC said the findings reinforce the importance of its interprofessional pain management course, with the majority of participating health professionals agreeing to integrate new strategies into their practices.

UNTHSC was one of 16 sites selected nationwide for the pilot project, which focused on advancing substance use care, workforce competency, and interprofessional education and practice. 

The project was led by UNTHSC’s Department of Continuing Education and Assessment in the Division of Academic Innovation and was recognized as an exemplary site for its innovative approach.

The university said the team traveled to the academy in Washington, D.C., where representatives from all sites, along with leaders in health professions education and health care delivery and policy, convened to share knowledge and outcomes.

Education and holistic care

At UNTHSC, the project Leads are Ericka Harden-Dews, J.D., CHCP, director; Sujita Adhikari, MPH, CPH, senior program manager, and Brenda Wilson, MS, CHCP, senior instructional designer.

The university said the project was designed to gain insights on applying the varied applications of the 3Cs Framework—core knowledge, collaboration, and clinical practice—which includes the feasibility and utility of implementation processes to improve health professional competency across the learning continuum and a diversity of interprofessional education and practice settings.

“After conducting an environmental scan of other accredited continuing education in our region focused on SUD [substance use disorder] and OUD [opiod use disorder] prevention and treatment, our team identified that there was very little interprofessional continuing education that encourages health care teams to look beyond the biology and into the psychological and social factors that may be contributing to their patients’ pain,” Harden-Dews said in a statement.

As previously noted, drug-related overdoses claim an estimated 260 American lives each day, per the National Academy of Medicine, which led the pilot — driving the urgent need for better-trained health professionals.

UNTHSC said that recognizing the important role that health professionals play in combatting these crises, members of the Action Collaborative authored a special publication in 2021, Educating Together, Improving Together: Harmonizing Interprofessional Approaches to Address the Opioid Epidemic, that identified the need to establish minimum core competencies for health care professionals in pain management and substance use care.

In 2022, they published the 3Cs Framework for Pain and Unhealthy Substance Use that sets the standard for the minimum level of competence in pain management and substance use care expected from all health professionals, while strengthening the delivery of coordinated, high-quality, person-centered care.

Goal of better outcomes

UNTHSC said its pilot project integrated the 3Cs Framework into two educational components. One was its existing online accredited course, Social Determinants of Health and Pain Management, while the other was four live, interprofessional group discussions covering topics such as pain psychology, trauma-informed care, and complementary therapies.

The school said that both components featured subject matter expert insights and real-life patient narratives, emphasizing reflective learning by making “commitments to change” a key construct in instructional design strategy.

“We were honored to participate in this meaningful pilot program,” Harden-Dews said. “Incorporating the 3Cs Framework into the design and evaluation of our pain management and OUD/SUD education proved instrumental in achieving impactful outcomes.”

UNTHSC said that among the 126 participants who completed the online module, 87% “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that they intended to incorporate new strategies into their practice.

It said that common commitments to change included:

• Implementing non-prescription and multimodal pain management strategies
• Considering social determinants of health factors and barriers
• Emphasizing a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach
• Using patient-centered strategies
• Increasing patient education efforts

“We will continue to refine our implementation strategy, utilizing the 3Cs Framework as a guidepost when working with faculty and subject matter experts. Our goal is to enhance content, broaden reach, and maximize the effectiveness of this educational activity,” Harden-Dews said.

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