September is Pain Awareness Month

September is Pain Awareness Month

Press and media
Friday, 10 August 2018
  As we approach September, Penney Cowan, IAPO Chair and Founder of the American Chronic Pain Association, calls on the community of people with pain and those who care for them, to start building the momentum of the campaign which aims to draw attention to the need for better understanding of what a person with pain deals with on a daily basis, the challenges they face and society's lack of understanding by about chronic pain. This is in effort to ensure that there is improved access to care, especially for the underserved, and for more education among the healthcare community, legislators, society, and especially payers.

In early 2001, the American Chronic Pain Association (ACPA) established a Pain Awareness Campaign under the umbrella of Partners for Understanding Pain.  This undertaking pulled together more than 80 organizations across the country whose missions complement the ACPA’s.  A key element of the effort was to establish September as Pain Awareness Month. 

This coalition:
• was committed to raising awareness through mass media, public forums, and other sources so that chronic pain may be more readily recognized, better understood without the traditional stigma attached, and more fittingly treated and managed and 
• strived to create greater understanding among health care professionals, individuals and families who are struggling with pain management, the business community, legislators, and the public that pain is a serious public health issue. 
 
Through its members, each of whom brought its own perspective to the dialogue, Partners for Understanding Pain represented a comprehensive network of resources and knowledge about issues in pain management.

Today, September Pain Awareness Month has reach far and wide.  Last year, the American Chronic Pain Association in cooperation with the International Association of Patient Organizations (IAPO) presented at the World Health Organization during the World Health Assembly and requested a declaration of September as International Pain Awareness Month.  

Since then the efforts have moved forward.  We are pleased that we are now working with the Pain Alliance Europe. Other countries are using the toolkit that we offer each year to health care professionals with a wealth of resources from organizations globally as well as useful information focused on the state of pain care today. 

Click here to see the 2018 toolkit

This is the time of year when we, as a community of people with pain and those who care for them, draw attention to the need for better understanding of what a person with pain deals with on a daily basis, the challenges they face and society's lack of understanding about chronic pain. September gives you a platform to have your voice heard, to reach out to friends, family, and your community about the need to increase research, improve access to care, especially for the underserved, and for more education among the healthcare community, legislators, society, and especially payers.  Your voice is powerful.

We hope you will join the effort to make September 2018 a banner year for pain awareness!