Patient partnership
The PRISM lab sits at the intersection of pain and health equity, with patient partnership serving as both a core methodology and value system around which we organize our work. We believe that individuals with lived experience bring essential expertise that strengthens the relevance, quality, and impact of our research. We recognize that meaningful partnership requires more than inviting patients to a table that already exists; it requires intentionally designing research environments where diverse perspectives are welcomed, valued, and supported. In addition to integrating patient partners throughout our own research, we study how partnership can be implemented effectively and ethically within pediatric pain research. Through scholarship and program development, we seek to identify practical strategies that help research teams build authentic collaborations while avoiding tokenism and promoting equity. This work has informed the development of trauma-informed frameworks for patient engagement and contributed to growing conversations about best practices for patient partnership in pediatric pain research.
Patient-family advisory committee
Dr. Alli Smith co-founded the Pain Division's Patient-Family Advisory Committee, along with Dr. Sarah Nelson and other members of the PRISM and PASS labs, to foster meaningful collaboration between patients, families, clinicians, and researchers. Through this initiative, we partner with patients and caregivers to improve research, clinical programs, and educational resources while advancing trauma-informed, inclusive, and equitable approaches to engagement in pain care. Our goal is to ensure that the voices of those most affected by chronic pain help shape the future of pediatric pain care.
Trauma-informed care
Despite growing recognition of the overlap among trauma, intersectionality, and the lived experience of chronic pain, trauma remains a significant component of chronic pain care that is often left unaddressed. The PRISM Lab is collaborating with patient partners, researchers here at Boston Children's, and researchers at Stanford University to close critical gaps in how this knowledge is translated into clinical practice. In this way, interdisciplinary teams can use their power to identify and mitigate risk associated with trauma in medical settings.
Mechanisms of change
The PRISM Lab seeks to identify and strengthen mechanisms of change that support resilience and recovery in pediatric chronic pain. One example is PREPaRe (Promoting Readiness and Engagement in Pain Rehabilitation), a motivational interviewing-based intervention designed to enhance treatment readiness and engagement among youth and families preparing for intensive interdisciplinary pain treatment (IIPT), such as that offered by the Mayo Family Pediatric Pain Rehabilitation Center (PPRC) and Young Adult Pain Rehabilitation Center, here at Boston Children's.