The month of September has been declared Pain Awareness Month. Pain Awareness Month is a time when various organizations work to raise public awareness of issues in the area of pain and pain management.

The first Pain Awareness Month was in 2001, when the American Pain Association (ACPA) led a coalition of groups to establish September as Pain Awareness Month. ACPA established Partners for Understanding Pain and 80 organizations, both health care professionals and consumer groups, including the NAACP supported the effort.

The key to raising awareness is to get involved. There are many things that you and your group members can do to help promote Pain Awareness Month. Some activities are simple and take little effort while others are more involved. You can choose an activity that you and your group can do together. The point is that the group work together as a team to generate awareness in their community about Pain Awareness Month. More importantly, that people with pain are people who, while they have limited ability, still can be an active part of the community.

The American Chronic Pain Association has developed this toolkit to help you and your members chose an activity that will be within the groups’ ability to carry out. You can choose from the activities in the book or you can use your imagination. If you have questions, you can call the National Office for guidance.

Click here to view the ACPA September Pain Awareness Month toolkit.

To help you add your voice to this campaign, please see the list of resources below;

• Government engagement guide
• Media engagement guide
• Healthcare providers’ engagement guide