Group Acupuncture Therapy With Modified Yoga

Chronic pain is prevalent in the U.S., with impact on physical and psychological functioning as well as lost work productivity. Minority and lower socioeconomic populations have increased prevalence of chronic pain with less access to pain care and poorer outcomes. Acupuncture therapy is effective in treating chronic pain conditions including chronic low back pain (cLBP), neck pain, shoulder pain and knee pain from osteoarthritis (OA). Acupuncture therapy, including group acupuncture, is feasible and effective, and specifically so for underserved and diverse populations at risk for health outcome disparities. Acupuncture therapy also encourages patient engagement and activation. As chronic pain improves there is a natural progression to want and need to increase activity and movement recovery. Diverse movement approaches are important both for improving range of motion, maintaining gains, strengthening and promoting patient engagement and activation. Yoga therapy is an active therapy with proven benefit in musculoskeletal pain disorders and pain associated disability. The aim of this pilot feasibility trial is to test the bundling of these two care options for chronic pain, to inform both the design for a larger randomized pragmatic effectiveness trial as well as implementation strategies across underserved settings.