I was recently informed by a colleague of the recent death of Prof Gordon Waddell. He was one of the pioneers in the revolution of back pain management, including with his book “The back pain revolution” [1].
Gordon wrote a seminal paper entitled “A new clinical model for the treatment of low-back pain” [2]. He introduced the biopsychosocial model of low back pain and was one of the first authors to make a distinction between pain and disability. This justified the need to address the various factors influencing pain including biological, psychological and social factors. His views and his work have contributed hugely to my research on the biopsychosocial model of low back pain. Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to meet him, but the views of the director of studies for my thesis were hugely influenced by his work.
Gordon kindly accepted the Honorary Post of Associate Professor at the British School of Osteopathy where I work, lending his support to the school as well as to osteopathy in general.
My sincere condolences to his family. He will be greatly missed.
[1] Waddell, Gordon. The back pain revolution. Elsevier Health Sciences, 2004. APA [2] Waddell G. 1987 Volvo award in clinical sciences. A new clinical model for the treatment of low-back pain. Spine. 1987;12:632–644. doi: 10.1097/00007632-198709000-00002.
