The Alliance for Balanced Pain Management (AfBPM) has launched a new survey that will help guide initiatives around pain management and patient safety.
The survey is open as part of Pain Awareness Month to collect data concerning the experiences of people living with pain and their access to care.
The survey will remain open through September 30. AfBPM expects to announce survey findings immediately following the 2015 AfBPM Summit in November in Washington, DC. 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."
The first Pain Awareness Month was in 2001, when the ACPA led a coalition of groups to establish September as Pain Awareness Month. The month was designed to raise awareness and generate knowledge and understanding of the many issues people face when they live with pain.
AfBPM is a diverse collective of health care advocacy groups, patient organizations, industry representatives and other stakeholders with a mission to support both the appropriate access to integrated pain management and the responsible use of prescription pain medicines with an aim to reduce abuse and enhance patient safety.
AfBPM, Penney Cowan, US
