Pre-Conference Workshops
Thursday 11 March 2027
Paediatric Pain Workshop - part 1 ~ Foundational Paediatric Pain Knowledge
9.00am-12.30pm Workshop
8.00am-9.00am Registration ~ 10.30-11.00am Morning Tea ~ 12.30-1.30pm Lunch
Chairs: Paeds Pain SIG
8.00am-9.00am Registration ~ 10.30-11.00am Morning Tea ~ 12.30-1.30pm Lunch
Chairs: Paeds Pain SIG
An interdisciplinary paediatric pain workshop grounded in contemporary pain science and aligned with the priorities set out in the Lancet Commission on Paediatric Pain, 2020.
Childhood pain is common, impactful, and too often under‑recognised, requiring coordinated, developmentally informed and team‑based care.
The first half of this workshop will provide foundational paediatric pain knowledge for clinicians who regularly work with children but do not specialise in paediatric pain, including GPs, nurses, and generalist allied health practitioners. This session will focus on pain science, assessment, communication with children and whānau, and practical strategies to support confident, evidence‑informed care.
Designed for nurses, psychologists, dietitians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, paediatricians and pain specialists, this workshop aims to strengthen capability, promote equity, and elevate paediatric pain as a core component of high‑quality health care in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Childhood pain is common, impactful, and too often under‑recognised, requiring coordinated, developmentally informed and team‑based care.
The first half of this workshop will provide foundational paediatric pain knowledge for clinicians who regularly work with children but do not specialise in paediatric pain, including GPs, nurses, and generalist allied health practitioners. This session will focus on pain science, assessment, communication with children and whānau, and practical strategies to support confident, evidence‑informed care.
Designed for nurses, psychologists, dietitians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, paediatricians and pain specialists, this workshop aims to strengthen capability, promote equity, and elevate paediatric pain as a core component of high‑quality health care in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Mandy Meys, Specialist Physiotherapist (Paediatrics) & Director, Nurture Paediatrics, NZ
Paediatric Pain Workshop - part 2 ~ Clinical Deep Dive
1.30pm-5.00pm Workshop
12.30pm-1.30pm Registration ~ 12.30-1.30pm Lunch ~ 3.00-3.30pm Afternoon Tea
Chairs: Paeds Pain SIG
12.30pm-1.30pm Registration ~ 12.30-1.30pm Lunch ~ 3.00-3.30pm Afternoon Tea
Chairs: Paeds Pain SIG
The second half will offer a clinical deep dive for established paediatric pain clinicians, exploring complexity, persistence, and interdisciplinary management across psychological, physical, medical and nutritional domains.
Physiotherapy Workshop
9.00am-5.00pm Workshop
8.00am-9.00am Registration ~ 10.30-11.00am Morning Tea ~ 12.30-1.30pm Lunch ~ 3.00-3.30pm Afternoon Tea
Chair: Kevin Khoo
8.00am-9.00am Registration ~ 10.30-11.00am Morning Tea ~ 12.30-1.30pm Lunch ~ 3.00-3.30pm Afternoon Tea
Chair: Kevin Khoo
Merging pain science and exercise to optimise rehab for Achilles tendinopathy: evidence and clinical application:
Unfortunately, exercise rehabilitation produces only modest results for many people living with pain. A challenge to optimising exercise rehabilitation is our framework for researching and applying exercise rehabilitation in clinical practice and does not align with a contemporary understanding of pain.
Our current view of conscious experiences like taste, smell and even pain suggests they are shaped by the interaction of top-down predictions and incoming sensory evidence. Using a series of audio-visual experiments, Merv will lead the audience on a journey to understand the role of both predictions and sensory information in our conscious experiences like pain. Central to this idea is the notion that how we move shapes our sensory information and the subsequent conscious experience of pain. Based on these concepts, Merv will discuss the evidence underpinning the fit-for-purpose framework for exercise rehabilitation for people with persisting pain and illustrate it in action through a case-study example.
Unfortunately, exercise rehabilitation produces only modest results for many people living with pain. A challenge to optimising exercise rehabilitation is our framework for researching and applying exercise rehabilitation in clinical practice and does not align with a contemporary understanding of pain.
Our current view of conscious experiences like taste, smell and even pain suggests they are shaped by the interaction of top-down predictions and incoming sensory evidence. Using a series of audio-visual experiments, Merv will lead the audience on a journey to understand the role of both predictions and sensory information in our conscious experiences like pain. Central to this idea is the notion that how we move shapes our sensory information and the subsequent conscious experience of pain. Based on these concepts, Merv will discuss the evidence underpinning the fit-for-purpose framework for exercise rehabilitation for people with persisting pain and illustrate it in action through a case-study example.
Dr Merv Travers, Senior Research Scholar School of Physiotherapy, The University of Notre Dame & Director, Optimise Rehab, Australia
AWE Workshop
9.00am-3.00pm Workshop
8.00am-9.00am Registration ~ 10.30-11.00am Morning Tea ~ 12.30-1.30pm Lunch
Chair: Kirstin Thomson
8.00am-9.00am Registration ~ 10.30-11.00am Morning Tea ~ 12.30-1.30pm Lunch
Chair: Kirstin Thomson
Persistent pain is shaped not only by tissue injury, but also by attention, emotion, stress physiology, fear, social connection, meaning, and nervous system regulation. Mindfulness-based approaches can help patients reduce reactivity, improve emotional regulation, increase self-efficacy, and reconnect with meaningful life activities.
This experiential 3-hour workshop introduces the science supporting mindfulness and related contemplative practices in chronic pain care, while providing clinicians with practical, easy-to-teach tools that can be integrated into interdisciplinary pain programs.
Participants will learn brief, scalable practices appropriate for medical settings, including breath awareness, mindful walking, body-based attention practices, and the A.W.E. Method (Attend, Wait, Exhale). The workshop also explores emerging research on awe, positive emotion, attentional training, and nervous system regulation in persistent pain and stress-related conditions.
Designed for physicians, psychologists, physiotherapists, nurses, occupational therapists, and interdisciplinary pain clinicians, this session emphasizes practical application rather than philosophy, with strategies clinicians can immediately adapt for groups, consultations, and rehabilitation settings.
This experiential 3-hour workshop introduces the science supporting mindfulness and related contemplative practices in chronic pain care, while providing clinicians with practical, easy-to-teach tools that can be integrated into interdisciplinary pain programs.
Participants will learn brief, scalable practices appropriate for medical settings, including breath awareness, mindful walking, body-based attention practices, and the A.W.E. Method (Attend, Wait, Exhale). The workshop also explores emerging research on awe, positive emotion, attentional training, and nervous system regulation in persistent pain and stress-related conditions.
Designed for physicians, psychologists, physiotherapists, nurses, occupational therapists, and interdisciplinary pain clinicians, this session emphasizes practical application rather than philosophy, with strategies clinicians can immediately adapt for groups, consultations, and rehabilitation settings.
Dr Michael Amster, Medical Doctor / Adjunct Assistant Professor, UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center and Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Capitola, USA
Nurses SIG Education Day
1.30pm-5.00pm Nurses SIG Education Sessions
12.30pm-1.30pm Registration ~ 12.30-1.30pm Lunch ~ 3.00-3.30pm Afternoon Tea
Chair: Tara Birch
12.30pm-1.30pm Registration ~ 12.30-1.30pm Lunch ~ 3.00-3.30pm Afternoon Tea
Chair: Tara Birch
5.00pm-6.00pm WELCOME RECEPTION with Sponsors and Exhibitors
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Contact UsWorkz4U Conference Management Ltd
Professional Conference Organisers [email protected] +64 (0) 21 325 133 www.w4u.co.nz |