Research Projects | CPFRC
Explore Our Research
Our team is working to find better ways to help people living with chronic pain and headaches, including people with fibromyalgia, with endometriosis and with eye pain.
One project, the MIVetsCan Study, is exploring whether cannabis and CBD can safely reduce pain and improve mental health for Veterans through two clinical trials.
In another study, we found that fear of pain and movement can make headaches and related symptoms worse, highlighting the need for more supportive care. We have also reviewed behavioral treatments for migraine, including relaxation training, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and biofeedback, and identified opportunities to enhance the effectiveness and accessibility of these approaches, such as through telehealth visits.
Together, these projects aim to bring practical, science-based solutions that improve the quality of life for Veterans and others living with pain.
Contact Principal Investigator: Kevin F. Boehnke, PhD
Co-Principal Investigator: Rachel Bergmans, PhD, MPH
Co-Principal Investigator: Amy S.B. Bohnert, PhD, MHS
Veterans are more likely to experience chronic pain compared to non-Veterans due to factors like injuries, physical disability, trauma, and homelessness. Some Veterans are interested in cannabis as a pain management tool, and have helped lead effective advocacy efforts that have made it more possible to study cannabis’s therapeutic properties. These efforts will help provide critical evidence to help us understand how cannabis works and who it helps the most with chronic pain and mental health symptoms.
Funded through the State of Michigan Veteran Marijuana Research Grant Program, we are conducting two clinical trials, Can-Coach and CBD-Care, to see whether CBD (cannabidiol) and cannabis can help Veterans with chronic pain and mental health.
Veterans who join these trials will also join the Pain Registry to continue data collection after the studies are complete.
In a sample of people with chronic headache conditions, our team found that people who report greater levels of fear of pain and fear of movement were more likely to have high levels of pain, depression and anxiety, and greater levels of interference in daily life due to pain.
In a review of headache treatment research, our team concluded that there are several useful behavioral treatments to help people with migraine headaches (such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, relaxation therapy, and biofeedback). However, our team also concluded that there is a major need to find treatments that show stronger effects for reducing migraine headache symptoms directly and to make accessing of behavioral or psychological treatments easier for patients, such as using brief or telehealth/Zoom-based formats.
