Best of CASE District VII Award
 

Institution: University of California San Diego

Title of entry: MORE Than Pain: Dan's Journey to Healing and Hope

About this entry: At the University of California San Diego, we push boundaries and challenge expectations through research and innovation that improve lives.

“MORE Than Pain: Dan’s Journey to Healing and Hope” tells the story of Dan Kruger, an international champion motorcycle racer who spent nearly 30 years relying on prescription opioids to manage chronic pain resulting from racing injuries and subsequent surgeries. The video follows his recovery as he fully discontinued opioids through Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement, or MORE.

Through Dan’s lived experience, the video introduces the scientific foundation of MORE and its developer, Dr. Eric Garland, an endowed professor at the T. Denny Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion and professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego. Garland explains how MORE combines mindfulness, reappraisal, and savoring to support recovery, backed by 20 years of research, more than 16 clinical trials, and over $90 million in federal grants.

Produced as a promotional video for patients and families, clinicians, healthcare organizations, policymakers and government agencies, insurers, media, and the general public, the project was designed to increase awareness of MORE as an evidence-based treatment option for chronic pain and opioid addiction and to communicate that recovery is possible.

The video was distributed through websites, newsletters, social media, and presentations at national conferences. It also generated additional exposure, including an interview on “10% Happier with Dan Harris,” which Dr. Garland described it as “one of the most prominent mental health podcasts in the country.”