Providing care in the clinical areas of chronic pain, mental health and substance use, either alone or as co-morbidities, can be challenging. The BC Adaptive Mentorship Network for Pain, Mental Health and Substance Use (BCAMN) was launched in March 2022 to build primary care capacity to support British Columbians living with chronic pain, mental health and substance use conditions.
BCAMN is intended for community-based primary care providers and allied health care professionals governed by the Health Professions Act. It connects health care provider Mentees with professional Mentors on the topics of chronic pain, mental health and substance use through safe, non-judgmental group-based mentoring and learning opportunities, and on-demand one-to-one mentoring conversations. Mentors and Mentees come from a wide variety of primary care disciplines (including medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, social work and more) and from all regions of British Columbia.
To meet growing demand, the BCAMN is increasing the number of Mentors from sixteen to eighteen. The Mentors work in pairs facilitating a small group of Mentees. Most groups meet monthly but may adapt their meeting schedule to meet the preference of the group members. One-to-one mentoring is available outside of the small groups. Mentees can engage in the National Adaptive Mentoring Forum – an online community of practice for Mentors and Mentees across Canada. There will also be opportunities to engage in province-wide and national workshops.
Compensation and funding
There is no cost to Mentees who join BCAMN. Mentors are compensated for their time.
BCAMN is supported by a funding agreement from Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addictions Program provided to the Centre for Effective Practice, the Atlantic Mentorship Network – Pain & Addiction, and Pain BC. Funding for this Project was also provided by the Shared Care Committee (SCC), one of four Joint Collaborative Committees (JCC) representing a partnership between Doctors of BC and the Government of BC.