September 2007
In
this issue…
September Declared "Pain Awareness Month"
Upstate Palliative Care Program in the News
Recent Media Reporting on Pain Prescriptions
Opportunity to Collaborate for Pain Management Education
September
Declared "Pain Awareness Month"
For the third consecutive year, September has been declared Pain Awareness Month in South Carolina by Governor Mark Sanford. It is also Pain Awareness Month nationally. The governor's proclamation acknowledges that unrelieved pain is a widespread and serious public health problem. The pain crisis not only has severe economic consequences for our state and country, but it also negatively affects the quality of life for people suffering from pain along with the families and caregivers of pain sufferers. In order to make improvements with quality of life, the governor calls for improvements in education and treatment approaches by the medical community and a heightened awareness about pain by all South Carolinians. For more information about the Pain Awareness Month events that SCPI has planned, please contact Shannon Johnson or visit the SCPI section of The Carolinas Center for Hospice and End of Life Care Web site.
Upstate Palliative Care Program in the News
The Greenville News ran a story on Sunday September 2nd about Bon Secours St Francis Health System's new Palliative Care program
highlighting the work of the program's Director, Peggy Edwards, NP (SCPI member). The story tells of her program's impact on the lives
of patients in pain.
http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007709020322
Recent Media Reporting on Pain Prescriptions
“A
World of Pain” an article from the Associated Press that discusses the rise in pain
medication and also the local slant “Doctors struggle with
concerns over painkillers” were printed in the Charleston Area’s Post
and Courier on Monday August 27.
According to Power Over Pain Campaign Action Network Coordinator, Michelle Lonchar,
“This news coverage of the increase in prescription pain medication
provides an opportunity to contact local reporters to continue cultivating
relationships, opening
doors…. and is
an opportunity to give a voice to people in pain.” Michelle also has the
following action items to consider and specific points to include in media
outreach.
Action
items for your consideration:
1)
Please
keep an eye out for media coverage and read the articles that run in your
state’s newspapers carefully to determine if and how you’d like to
respond. Some of the coverage resulting from this AP report has been
balanced and some has not.
2)
Contact
the newspaper or the local reporter who covered the story to offer
yourself as a local resource to be interviewed (please also refer people
to the American Pain Foundation).
3)
Refer
the reporter to the APF’s web Newsroom for current and referenced Facts
& Figures.
4)
Consider
writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper which has covered
the AP story, stating your point of view. The Congress.org
Media Guide is helpful in locating the correct contact information.
Specific
points that you may wish to include in your outreach to the media include:
1)
An
increase in pain medication prescriptions does not equal an overmedication
of people in pain.
2)
An
increase in prescriptions could be related to increased education and
attention to pain treatment among healthcare professionals, as they are
better equip to diagnose and treat pain. The volume of prescriptions may
have gone up because doctors are seeing more patients—and doing a better
job at treating their pain.
3)
Another
part of what drives this increase is the 75 million Americans with
undertreated chronic pain. That number is predicted to be on the rise, as
the baby boom generation ages, because many conditions that cause pain are
related to age, including arthritis, back pain, osteoporosis and other
problems.
4) Prescription drug abuse is a serious issue that needs to be address; however, limiting access to pain relief for people in pain is not the answer. News headlines about abuse and diversion stigmatize the medications and hinder their appropriate medical use.
Opportunity
to Collaborate for Pain Management Education
The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB)recently sponsored the writing and development of a new book by Scott Fishman, MD titled, "Responsible Opioid Prescribing: A Physician's Guide." This book is a follow up guide to the FSMB's Model Guidelines for the Use of Controlled Substances for the Treatment of Pain that clearly and concisely explains to physicians how to incorporate the Model Guidelines into medical practice. The FSMB's goal is to distribute these books to all practicing physicians in the U.S. However, a national roll-out is very costly and challenging to coordinate, and therefore the books are more likely to be distributed on a state-by-state basis. A pilot distribution is currently underway in New Mexico, where the Board of Medicine has secured the funds to print and mail the book to all licensed physicians. To encourage prescribers to read and understand the guide, they plan to offer CME credit to readers. The SCPI is working to locate funders to help support printing and hopes to collaborate with our state medical board by facilitating and helping coordinate the distribution effort.
Registration Open for The Carolinas Pain Congress
On September 27th and 28th
The Carolinas Pain Congress will be held at
the Charlotte Marriott Executive Park in Charlotte, NC. On the first day
of the conference, there will be meetings of the South Carolina and North
Carolina Pain Initiatives. Topics of the pain conference will include:
·
Assessing Pain in
Dementia Patients
·
Methadone Update
·
Advocacy and Pain
Awareness Programs
·
Osteoarthritis, a Focus
on NSAIDs
·
Improving Communication
for Optimal Pain Assessment
·
Meeting of Both SCPI
and NCPI
·
What’s New in
Analgesic Therapy
·
Strategies for
Implementing Pain Programs Within Institutions
·
Advanced Pain
Assessment—Beyond 1 to 10
To register online for this program, click here.
Forum on State Pain Policy
Sept 16-18
Sea
Trail Resort, Sunset Beach, NC
·
Ethical Issues in End
of Life Care 
·
Organizational and
Professional Ethics
·
Beyond Acceptance
·
Interludes: The
Therapeutic Use of Music at the End of Life
·
Out of the Mist: Using
Hypnosis and Dream Work to Aid in the Grieving process
·
Working with Difficult
or Dependent Caregivers
·
What About the Kids?
Helping Children Through the Illness of a Parent
·
Don’t Say the “H”
Word…But You CAN Call it Palliative Care
·
Wrestling with Grief in
a SUMO (Suck it Up and Move On) World
·
Anger Issues During
Bereavement
·
Belief and Dis-Ease:
Crossroads and Crisis
·
Elevating the Role of
the Social Worker on the Team: Skills, Best Practices and Quality
Initiatives
·
Capturing Stories
·
W.I.G. Support (When I
Grieve)
·
Beyond Emotional
Support: Taking a More Assertive Approach to Care
For
more information or to register online for this program, click here.
Pain Resource Nurse Course
September
19
Anderson,
SC
Program
certification is specific to the Anderson Healthcare System
but
HCPs from other healthcare systems are welcome to attend. Space is
limited.
Information:
Donna.Kent@anmedhealth.org
Tuesday,
September 25 from 8:30-9:30 a.m.
Alvin H. Moss, MD, FACP, Professor of Medicine, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morganton, WV.
October
5
This
one day conference will review the data on the unique pharmacology,
clinical efficacy and potential toxicities of methadone. Strategies for
the safe and effective use of methadone in the palliative and end of life
setting will be discussed.
Participants
will be able to: discuss the basis of the FDA black box warning; describe
the unique pharmacology of methadone, and how it differs from other
opioids; describe several methods for safe conversion of patients on other
opioids to methadone; and discuss methadone’s usefulness in palliative
and end of life care.
To
register online for this program, click here.
Spartanburg
Regional Pain Team presents:
The
Different Faces of Pain Management…A Pain Management Symposium
Friday,
November 16, 2007
Summit
Pointe
805
Spartan Boulevard
Spartanburg,
SC
Information: cgriffin@srhs.com
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