Ranjan Roy

Ranjan Roy is currently a Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba. He was a Professor (retired) at the Faculty of Social Work and the Department of Clinical Health Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba.  

Ranjan Roy was educated at St. Stephen's College, University of Delhi, London School of Economics and Political Science and The University of Toronto. He received his psychotherapy training at Child Guidance Centre, University College London and The Adult Department of Psychiatry, Middlesex Medical School, London, UK.

Prior to joining the Faculty of Social Work and the Department of Psychiatry in 1979, he was for ten years a member of the Department of Psychiatry, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont. There he started his clinical and research work in pain. At McMaster University he was involved in medical education and taught in the M.D., MHSc. and Clinical Behavior Science programs. He was also a member of the Program of Educational Development (MD Program). He was a co-investigator on a major research project on life - events and morbitiy.  He also received his training in family therapy there which was under the directorship of Dr. Nathan Epstein, a pioneer in family therapy.

Ranjan Roy spent most of his research career pursuing the social, family and epidemiological aspects of chronic pain. He has produced fifteen books and over eighty-five papers and chapters mostly on the topic of chronic pain. His writings have highlighted the centrality of the social dimensions in every aspect of chronic illness. His other research areas include community mental health, medical education and life-events and morbidity & many publications resulted from these endeavours. He was invited to speak on various aspects of chronic pain at many national and international conferences and universities.  His clinical practice was based at Pain Clinic, Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg.  He was elected a Fellow of Royal Society of Canada for his contribution to the field of Chronic Pain.

Ranjan Roy spent many years serving the Faculty Association of the University of Manitoba. He was on the executive for many years and held positions such as President, Vice-President, and Grievance Chair.

Dr. Roy's research focuses on psychological and social aspects of chronic pain such as:

• Chronic Pain and Family
• Chronic Pain and Childhood Abuse
• Chronic Pain and Young Adults
• Chronic Pain and The Elderly
• Chronic Pain and Social dimensions and Epidemiology

Community Mental Health:
The role of general practioners in a community mental health service. Medical Care, 1966, 4:123-128.

Problems of compulsory emergency admissions. Lancet, 1968, 7533: 83-84.

Some comparative studies of psychiatric emergencies. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 1971, 12: 208-216 (with H. Freeman).

Field-Unit: An experiment in community psychiatry, Can. J. Public Health, 1972, 63: 499-503 (with David Adams).

Medical Education:
Town and gown unite in undergraduate medical education. Can. Fam. Phys., 1975, 21: 127-129 (with Dick Barry).

Preceptorship for undergraduates. Can. Fam. Phys., 1976, 22: 129-135 (with Dick Barry).

Life-Events and Morbidity:
A longitudinal study of the influence of the psychological environment on health status: The dimension of life-change. J. Health & Social Behav., 1980, 21: 124-133 (with A. McFarlane, G. Norman, D. Streiner & D. Scott).

Characteristics and correlates of the effective and ineffective social support. J. Psychosom. Res., 1984, 28: 501-510 (with A. McFarlane, G. Norman, D. Streiner).

Chronic pain and family:
Family conflict & exacerbation of headache: A clinical report. Headache, 1986, 26: 360-364.

Family and chronic pain: A problem-centered perspective. New York, Plenum, 1989.

Pain patients and marital relations. Clin. J. Pain, 1989, 5: 255-259 (with M. Thomas).

Chronic headache and couple therapy. Headache, 1989, 29: 455-457.

Chronic pain and the family: A clinical perspective. New York, Springer, 2006.

Chronic pain and social issues:
Chronic pain: psychosocial factors in rehabilitation. Baltimore, Williams and Wilkins, 1982 (with E. Tunks).

Social relations in chronic pain. New York, Plenum, 2001.

Social dislocation and the chronic pain patients. Encyclopedia of Pain. Berlin/Heidelberg, Springer/Verlag, 2007.

Chronic pain and the elderly:
A survey of chronic pain in an elderly population. Can Fam. Phys., 1986, 513-516.

Pain, depression and illness behaviour in a group of community based elderly persons: Elderly persons with and without pain. II. Clin. J. Pain, 1987, 3: 102-106.

Old age and chronic pain: A biopsychosocial perspective. Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1995.

Social context of chronic pain in the elderly. In: B. Ferrell (ed). Old age & pain, Seatle, WA, IASP Press 1996.

Chronic pain and childhood abuse:
In search of pain-prone behaviour in a group of college students. Pain Clinic, 1993, 6: 213-222.

Childhood abuse and chronic pain: A curious relationship. Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1998.

Chronic pain and grief:
Old age, pain and loss. Topics in Geriatric Rehabilitation, 2001, 16: 66-76.

Chronic pain, loss and suffering. Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 2004.

Chronic pain and epidemiology:
Pain and depression in a group of college students and seniors. Pain Clinic, 1990, 3: 213-222 (with M. Thomas & P. Makarenko).

Chronic pain in college students: Issues of management. Can. Fam. Phys., 1992, 38: 2597-2601 (with M. Thoms, A. Cook & S. Marykuca).

Changing nature of pain complaints over the life-span. New York, Plenum, 1999 (with M. Thomas).