Preventing Chronic Pain: A Human Systems Approach (Coursera)

Preventing Chronic Pain: A Human Systems Approach (Coursera)

Chronic pain is at epidemic levels and has become the highest-cost condition in health care. This course uses both creative and experiential learning to better understand chronic pain conditions and how they can be prevented through self-management in our cognitive, behavioral, physical, emotional, spiritual, social, and environmental realms.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

The goal of this course is to blend creative, experiential, and evidence-based teaching strategies to help participants understand chronic pain conditions and how a human systems approach can be applied to self-management strategies to reduce risk factors, enhance protective factors, and prevent chronic pain. There are four major objectives to the course;

  1. Describe the prevalence, personal impact, and health care dilemma associated with chronic pain.
  2. Recognize the clinical characteristics and underlying etiology of several common pain conditions and the peripheral, central, and genetic mechanisms of chronic pain
  3. Based on the literature associated with risk and protective factors in the seven realms of our lives, learn specific strategies in each realm that can be employed daily to prevent chronic pain and enhance wellness.
  4. Appreciate the value of a human systems approach to health care and how it can provide a basis for integrative, interdisciplinary, and individualized care to preventing pain and enhancing wellness.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Introduction to the Course
In this first module, we will introduce you to the course and present an overview of the topics to be discussed and format of the course. We will also present information about receiving Continuing Education, joining the International Myopain Society, and supporting the Campaign for Preventing Chronic Pain

WEEK 2
The Problem of Chronic Pain

WEEK 3
Common Pain Conditions and their Mechanisms

WEEK 4
Common Pain Conditions and their Mechanisms

WEEK 5
Common Pain Conditions and their Mechanisms

WEEK 6
Risk and Protective Factors in the Seven Realms

WEEK 7
Risk and Protective Factors in the Seven Realms

WEEK 8
Risk and Protective Factors in the Seven Realms

WEEK 9
Risk and Protective Factors in the Seven Realms

WEEK 10
Implementing Transformative Care

Suggested Reading: The Last Scroll

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Traditional herbal medicine in supportive cancer care: From alternative to integrative (Coursera) Coursera
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology

Traditional herbal medicine in supportive cancer care: From alternative to integrative (Coursera)

Please join us for an exciting and innovative journey, examining one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of the oncology setting: Traditional Herbal Medicine in Supportive Cancer Care. This course is presented with short lectures offering a wide range of issues related to the principles and practice of herbal medicine in cancer care.

Oct 12th 2026
13-24 Weeks
Life, Health and Radiation (Coursera) Coursera
The University of Sydney

Life, Health and Radiation (Coursera)

Radiation is all around us - without it we wouldn’t exist. Yet the word has become synonymous with danger, death and disaster. This MOOC will allow the world to see radiation in a new light, to expose its benefits as well as its risks. X-ray radiation, for example, is a scientific and medical discovery that has improved or prolonged billions of lives. Most of us have had an X-ray at some point in our life, at the Dentist, in a hospital or clinic. Yet few people really understand what X-rays are or where they come from.

Oct 12th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Curanderismo: Global & Cultural Influences of Traditional Healing (Coursera) Coursera
University of New Mexico

Curanderismo: Global & Cultural Influences of Traditional Healing (Coursera)

As the last of four courses on Curanderismo, the art of Hispanic/Latino traditional medicine, this course focuses specifically on traditional healing using different techniques of many countries around the world. As an educational and cultural platform, this course will share a number of traditional global perspectives.

Oct 12th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Career 911: Your Future Job in Medicine and Healthcare (Coursera) Coursera
Northwestern University

Career 911: Your Future Job in Medicine and Healthcare (Coursera)

This course aims to help high school students, recent graduates, and those considering career transitions explore health care career options and learn strategies for entry into the health care workforce and health related fields. There are lots of amazing job opportunities in medicine and healthcare! Join us, as we share the strategies and secrets for getting those jobs.

Oct 12th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Disease Screening in Public Health (Coursera) Coursera
University of Geneva

Disease Screening in Public Health (Coursera)

Current and future public health is characterized by the increase of chronic and degenerative diseases, corresponding to the worldwide ageing of the population. The increasing prevalence of these conditions together with the long incubation period of the chronic diseases and the restless technological innovations, offer new opportunities to develop strategies for early diagnosis.

Oct 12th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Training and Learning Programs for Volunteer Community Health Workers (Coursera) Coursera
Johns Hopkins University

Training and Learning Programs for Volunteer Community Health Workers (Coursera)

Volunteer community health workers (CHWs) are a major strategy for increasing access to and coverage of basic health interventions. Our village health worker training course reviews the process of training and continuing education of CHWs as an important component of involving communities in their own health service delivery. Participants will be guided through the steps of planning training and continuing education activities for village volunteers. The course draws on real-life examples from community-directed onchocerciasis control, village health worker programs, community case management efforts, peer educators programs and patent medicine vendor training programs, to name a few.

Oct 12th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Epidemiology: The Basic Science of Public Health (Coursera) Coursera
University of North Carolina

Epidemiology: The Basic Science of Public Health (Coursera)

Often called “the cornerstone” of public health, epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of diseases, health conditions, or events among populations and the application of that study to control health problems. By applying the concepts learned in this course to current public health problems and issues, students will understand the practice of epidemiology as it relates to real life and makes for a better appreciation of public health programs and policies. This course explores public health issues like cardiovascular and infectious diseases – both locally and globally – through the lens of epidemiology.

Oct 12th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Case Studies in Personalized Medicine (Coursera) Coursera
Vanderbilt University

Case Studies in Personalized Medicine (Coursera)

Learn how advances in biomedicine hold the potential to revolutionize drug development, drug treatments, and disease prevention: where are we now, and what does the future hold? This course will present short primers in genetics and mechanisms underlying variability in drug responses. A series of case studies will be used to illustrate principles of how genetics are being brought to bear on refining diagnoses and on personalizing treatment in rare and common diseases. The ethical and operational issues around how to implement large scale genomic sequencing in clinical practice will be addressed.

Oct 12th 2026
5-12 Weeks
How Music Can Change Your Life (Coursera) Coursera
University of Melbourne

How Music Can Change Your Life (Coursera)

Did you ever wonder how music works? This course provides free video, audio and journal resources that explain six basic principles about how music can influence individual and community health and wellbeing. From biology and neuroscience, to psychotherapy and politics, the ways we engage with music can make all the difference. Music has always played an integral role in the lives of individuals and communities all around the globe.

Oct 12th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Weight Management: Beyond Balancing Calories (Coursera) Coursera
Emory University

Weight Management: Beyond Balancing Calories (Coursera)

Across the globe, more people are suffering from obesity than at any other time in our history. Why has obesity become so common and so challenging? In this course, we will look at the root cause of obesity, as explained by the latest science. We will see how our food environment has evolved over the last half-century, and how it is altering our biology to over-consume calories and resist sustained weight loss.

Oct 12th 2026
5-12 Weeks