Chronic pain is common and often debilitating in US Veterans. Pharmacological treatments are often ineffective and can have negative health consequences. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has been demonstrated to be effective for chronic pain, but can be difficult to obtain due to a lack of trained therapists or veterans having difficulty committing to the time and resources needed for the full clinician-led ACT protocol.
We are developing a web-based conversational agent to provide a multi-session ACT intervention for veterans with chronic pain.
This work is supported by the US Veterans’ Administration, and is a collaboration with Erin Reilly at the VA Bedford Medical Center.