APF launches new educational initiative for people with pain, health care professionals

Initiative Aims to Educate on the Appropriate and Safe Use of Pain Management Therapies in Effort to Reduce Risk and Improve Access to Pain Care

The American Pain Foundation (APF) today announced the launch of PainSAFE™ (Pain Safety & Access For Everyone), a new educational initiative designed for people with pain and health care professionals. The mission of PainSAFE is to provide education surrounding the appropriate and safe use of pain management therapies for people affected by pain and health care professionals, thereby, helping to reduce risk and improve access to quality pain care.

PainSAFE is a web-based program that provides up-to-date information, programming and practical resources and tools to help educate consumers about pain treatment options and their use.  PainSAFE also provides health care providers with a central hub of evidence-based information and practice-based tools to focus on safety and reduce the risks associated with various pain treatments.  The content of PainSAFE will continue to evolve and adapt as scientific and policy research uncovers new findings in the area of safe pain treatment and real-world impact of recommended approaches. Materials are available at www.painsafe.org.

APF recognizes that patient safety is one of the nation's most pressing health care challenges, directly affecting people living with a variety of acute and chronic pain conditions.  Although pain management therapies can provide significant benefits by reducing pain and suffering, improving physical function and restoring one's quality of life, they can also result in unintended or undesirable effects, from minor to life-threatening.

"Knowledge of how to safely utilize treatments among providers and their patients will result in better treatment choices, safer use of these therapies and, in turn, improve access to pain care," said pain management expert Lynn Webster, MD, FACPM, FASAM and advisor for PainSAFE.  "The reality is that no single treatment option for pain management is without risk, and that also includes the decision not to treat the pain. But these risks can be managed by educating and empowering consumers and health care professionals alike about the responsibility each person has in the safe use of treatments to limit risk while getting the most out of a pain care program."

"Pain is best managed using a combination of treatment options. These options may include prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) medication, counseling, physical therapy, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), injections, implantable pain therapies or surgery. This 'multi-modality' approach takes into consideration that every person's pain is unique, and that there is no 'one-size-fits-all' solution to pain," said Micke Brown, BSN, RN, Director of Communications for APF and pain management nurse.