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The overarching goal of Prof. Wideman’s research is to improve care for people living with pain. He approaches this goal by advancing research related to the following three themes:

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Theme 1: Understanding and targeting biopsychosocial risk factors for prolonged pain and disability.

This line of work aims to explore how different risk and resilience factors influence the recovery trajectory of patients with musculoskeletal pain. Prof. Wideman’s past work has focused on psychological risk factors, such as pain catastrophizing, fear and resilience. His more recent work has focused on sensitized responses to physical activity engagement, such as increased levels of pain intensity or negative, pain-related thoughts that are specifically provoked by pain-related physical activities.

Sample work related to Theme 1:

• Wideman TH, Asmundson G, Smeets R, Zautra A, Simmonds M, Sullivan M, Haythornthwaite J, Edwards R. Re-thinking the fear avoidance model: Toward a multi-dimensional framework of pain-related disability. Pain, 2013; 154 (11): 2262-2265. DOI: .
• Wideman TH, Finan P, Edwards R, Quartana, P, Buenaver L, Haythornthwaite J, Smith M. Increased sensitivity to physical activity among individuals with knee osteoarthritis: Relation to pain outcomes, psychological factors and responses to quantitative sensory testing. Pain, 2014; 155 (4): 703-711. DOI: .
• Woznowski-Vu A*, Uddin Z*, Flegg D*, Aternali A, Wickens R, Sullivan M, Sweet S, Skou S, Wideman TH. Comparing novel and existing measures of sensitivity to physical activity among people with chronic musculoskeletal pain: the importance of tailoring activity to pain. Clinical journal of pain, 2019; 35 (8): 656-667. DOI: .

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Theme 2: Improving entry-level pain education for health professionals through large-scale knowledge translation initiatives

Prof. Wideman’s research in this area has primarily focused on advancing a national knowledge translation project to improve how physical therapists are trained to manage pain across Canada. Current research priorities focus on developing and implementing a standardized assessment of pain management competency and on exploring strategies for improving how pain education is approached within entry-level training programs.

Sample work related to Theme 2:

• Wideman TH, Miller J*, Bostick G, Thomas A, Bussières A. Advancing pain education in Canadian physiotherapy programs: Results of a consensus-generating workshop. Physiotherapy Canada, 2018; 70 (1): 24-33. DOI: .
• Wideman TH, Miller J*, Bostick G, Thomas A, Bussières A, Wickens R. The current state of pain education within Canadian physiotherapy programs: a national survey of pain educators. Disability and rehabilitation, 2020; 42 (9): 1332-1338. DOI: .

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Theme 3: Understanding and addressing pain-related suffering.

This theme focuses on advancing theoretical and empirical research on suffering among people living with pain. The Multi-modal Assessment of Pain (MAP) model helped lay a conceptual foundation for this work by creating a pragmatic framework for further integrating subjectivity within assessment and clinical care. More recent work has focused on synthesizing existing literature on pain-related suffering and collecting qualitative data to help fill existing gaps in evidence.

• Wideman TH, Edwards R, Walton D, Martel M, Hudon A, Seminowicz D. The multi-modal assessment model of pain: A novel framework for further integrating the subjective pain experience within research and practice. Clinical journal of pain, 2019; 35 (3): 212-221. DOI: .
• Stilwell P, Hudon A, Meldrum K, Pagé MG, Wideman TH. What is Pain-Related Suffering? Conceptual Critiques, Key Attributes, and Outstanding Questions. The Journal of Pain, 2022; 23 (5): 729-738. DOI: .
• Stilwell P, Hudon A, Meldrum K, Pagé MG, McIntyre V, Wideman TH. Moving closer to an inclusive definition of pain-related suffering and targeted care. The Journal of Pain, 2023; 24(3), 552–553. DOI:
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Post-doctoral fellowship opportunity

Prof. Wideman is currently seeking a post-doctoral fellow who can help lead innovative research on suffering among veterans living with pain. This research aims to understand the interaction between pain beliefs and self-identity during the transition from military to civilian life. Findings are expected to help advance our theoretical understanding of pain-related suffering as well as informing novel rehabilitation strategies to better help veterans who are living with pain. The ideal candidate would have expertise in administering qualitative interviews and conducting qualitative analyses. Candidates are expected to apply for the from the Canadian Pain Society and the Chronic Pain Centre of Excellence for Canadian Veterans (CPCoE). Application support will be provided to these select candidates to meet the January 21, 2024 deadline. Interested candidates should email Prof. Wideman by January 12^th.