Empowering and Promoting: Occupational Therapy’s Role in Chronic Pain Management and Legislation

Clients with chronic pain can be seen in various settings across the life span. Chronic pain is defined as persistent pain lasting greater than 12 weeks (National Institutes of Health, 2011). People with chronic pain are a major public health concern within the United States, outnumbering those with other chronic health conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined (Breeden & Rowe, 2017). Within the United States, the economic effect of pain has been