MLC Life Insurance (MLC) has teamed up with pain management specialist Beyond Pain, coinciding with the National Pain Week in Australia.
The National Pain Week in Australia recognises that one in five Australians lives in chronic pain, including children and adolescents. It also recognises that one in three people over the age of 65 lives with chronic pain as it remains one of the fastest-growing medical conditions in the country.
MLC and Beyond Pain aim to help customers suffering from chronic pain, chronic fatigue, and mental illness return to work after making a life insurance claim.
As part of the partnership, MLC will offer customers on-claim access to Beyond Pain's Pain-Assist program, a tailored pain coaching program offered via telehealth to customers irrespective of their location, under the guidance of an experienced interdisciplinary pain management team.
Beyond Pain founder Anjelo Ratnachandra said the Pain-Assist program focuses on improving functional capacity rather than specifically reducing pain.
“Too many programs use pain as a measure of efficacy, but the research suggests that the greater the frequency of pain reporting, the worse the pain scores. We instead focus on functional gains, helping people to get back to their lives (including work) despite the pain,” Ratnachandra said.
“In developing the program, we looked at what we had wanted in a rehab program as service users ourselves. Our collective experience was that many programs are too clinical and didactic in their approach, and often, clients are left feeling somewhat helpless with no clear direction. As such, we felt the purpose of the program should be to instil self-belief and to humanise the rehab experience.”
MLC Life Insurance chief claims officer Jane Dorter commented: “We see the impact that chronic pain has on our customers every single day through the claims we support.
“Our purpose is to help our customers better understand and manage their condition and ultimately have the confidence to return to good work and a healthy lifestyle. While we're here to protect our customers financially, we also want to support their overall well-being and provide tangible solutions that make a difference. Beyond Pain assists us to deliver this help when our customers need it most.”
The Pain-Assist program is available to all customers who have made an income protection claim at MLC Life Insurance.
