My Pain Matters Lab

Our Services

At the #MyPainMatters Lab, we offer several services and resources to our community to promote good pain management and wellness. We partner with organizations to help them support people living with chronic pain.

About Us

Mission

To elevate the voices and experiences of pain in the underserved, empower older adults to manage pain, and serve the community through pain education and research. We aim to improve the health of older Black individuals and families managing chronic pain by leveraging health solutions, cultural and spiritual assets and eradicating sociopolitical and structural barriers.

Vision: Our vision is to transform lives by elevating voices, empowering change to live well with pain, educating community, and eradicating unequal pain management.

Tenets: Elevate, Empower, Educate, Eradicate

Motto: “We walk by FAITH (Finding Arthritis Interventions That Help)!”

Values:

• Faith: Substance of things hoped for- belief, trust, and manifest.
• Knowledge: Knowledge is Power, but Power is Knowledge!
• Liberation: Freedom in all dimensions of life, including health and from pain and suffering. 
• Respect: Mutual appreciation and high regard for people and their experiences, including differences in pain journeys.
• Community: Unity as a people, family, and a village who support each other.
• Empowerment: Skills, ability, confidence, and resources to motivate action and autonomy.

Purpose: To empower underserved older adult’s management of pain and destigmatize the public’s and providers’ perceptions of pain in minoritized populations.

Team

Investigator and Director of MY Pain Matters Lab

Department:

Biobehavioral Nursing Science

Staja Booker PhD, RN, FAAN

Associate Professor

Email:

bookers@ufl.edu

Staff

Department:

Biobehavioral Nursing Science

Cynthia Apfelbaum MPH

Research Coordinator

Email:

cynap@ufl.edu

Department:

NR-DNP

Jianli Wu

ADJ CLIN AST PROF

Email:

jianliwu@ufl.edu

Current Scholars and Students

Department:

Biobehavioral Nursing Science

Simone Jackson

GRADUATE AST-R

Phone:

(210) 365-4194

Email:

si.jackson@ufl.edu

Department:

NR-GRADUATE ENROLLMENT

Sarah Alzahid

GRADUATE AST-R

Phone:

(646) 301-4327

Email:

alzahidsarah@ufl.edu

Healthy Equity Community Advisory Board

Our health-equity centered community advisory board, or CAB, plays an important role in advancing the mission of our lab’s research. Our members are valued and represent a collaboration between community members, organizations, faith leaders, and healthcare providers. We come together to listen, learn, support, co-create and evaluate equity-based solutions for chronic pain conditions. 

2022-2024 Board

• Romona Jackson (Director, Carolyn’s Heart)
• George Guy (VA Chaplain)
• Angela R. Howard (President, Sickle Cell Disease Association of Florida- North Central Florida Chapter)
• Guerian Fort (Minister, PASSAGE Family Church)
• Angela Howard (Director, North Central Florida YMCA)
• Robert Gadson (person with lived experience of pain)
• Ernestine Gardner (Retired Nurse; Retired Outreach Coordinator for SCD)

Employment and Volunteer Opportunities

We accept UF students and community members to volunteer with our lab. All volunteers must complete IRB training to work on our studies. 

Research Studies

We are conducting studies to help older adults improve their joint pain. To date, we have completed 3 studies and have 1 currently in progress. We believe everybody deserves access to science-driven solutions for equitable pain care.

• PROSPER Program (Coming Soon 2025!)
• HOPE Study (2016-2017, University of Iowa)
• MOVE Study (2019-2020, UF)
• IMPACT Study (2020-2024, UF)
• PROACTIVE Study (2024- current, UF)

Note: Funding and scholarship support are provided through the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS; K23AR076463), the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR; R01NR021183), University of Florida Excellence Award for Assistant Professors, and the University of Florida Faculty Enhancement Opportunity Award. The content on this website is solely the responsibility of the My Pain Matters Director/PI and does not represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or the University of Florida (UF). 

Current Study

Proactive Study

Testing the Pain Relief of musculOskeletal conditions and Arthritis using Culturally Tailored InterVentions for Black Elders (PROACTIVE) Intervention: A Randomized Controlled Trial

• Purpose: The purpose of this study is to test a culturally tailored self-management intervention to reduce pain associated with movement in African American/Black adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain, such as arthritis, low back pain, and other joint pain. We are interested in addressing common social factors that impact chronic pain management, these being health literacy (education), faith, and financial limitations.
• What will I be asked to do? You will be asked to attend four consecutive once-weekly sessions to learn about pain self-management and complete questionnaires and physical function tests. After the four weeks, we will follow-up with you at 1 month and 3 months. This means there are a total of 6 visits. You will be randomly placed into 1 of 2 groups: intervention group or the control group.
• Will I be compensated? All enrolled participants will be compensated, and compensation is based on your participation in each phase of the study. Participants can receive up to $195.
• When can I sign up? Enrollment now ongoing.
• How do I sign up? You can call us at 352-273-6351 to be screened or you can screen yourself at this secure link: https://redcap.ctsi.ufl.edu/redcap/surveys/?s=JMWC8A4HLPATDFNM

Prosper Program

Pain Relief for Osteoarthritis through Self-management emPowERment

Purpose: Black communities are historically and currently disadvantaged by chronic pain and subsequently experience more profound physical and psychological disability. An important part of addressing pain in our communities is to raise awareness about pain as a public health problem and the problems with unequal pain care. The purpose of this program is to empower, educate, and support community organizations and churches with services, education, and navigation to relevant research studies. The PROSPER Program is our signature, umbrella program that will incorporate all that we have learned so far through our multiple research studies into a cohesive, dynamic community-based pain self-management program.

Funding provided through a Faculty Enhancement Opportunity (FEO) Award from the University of Florida.

Stay connected… More information Coming Soon.