In support of Pain Awareness Month, the Alliance for Balanced Pain Management (AfBPM) today affirmed the need to balance access to appropriate pain management with responsible medicine use, and highlighted a new access survey for people with or affected by acute or chronic pain.
The survey is currently open to collect data concerning the experiences of people living with pain and their access to care, and survey results will help guide AfBPM in future initiatives consistent with its mission of appropriate access to pain management, patient safety and responsible use of pain medications, when appropriate. The access survey will remain open through September 30. AfBPM expects to announce survey findings immediately following the 2015 AfBPM Summit in November in Washington, D.C. Anyone with or affected by pain can participate in the survey.
The inaugural AfBPM Summit in 2014 addressed methods to counter abuse, misuse and diversion of prescription medicine and explored ways to help people with pain receive the care they need. This year, AfBPM looks to identify additional programs that fit its mission.
"Findings from the access survey will provide us with crucial, firsthand information to identify and secure a deeper understanding of the issues people with pain face when trying to access appropriate care," said Penney Cowan, Founder and Executive Director of the American Chronic Pain Association (ACPA) and AfBPM Steering Committee member. "Pain Awareness Month provides us with an important time to pause and really assess the barriers to balanced pain management while underscoring the need for patient safety."