Alliance for Balanced Pain Management Affirms Need for Access to Appropriate Care and Patient Safety during Pain Awareness Month

-- Survey Underway to Shed Light on Pain Management Access Challenges --

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Alliance for Balanced Pain Management

Sep 08, 2015, 09:12 ET

BOONTON, N.J., Sept. 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- 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."

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. Member organizations and resources for balanced pain management can be found at www.AllianceBPM.org.

About the Alliance for Balanced Pain Management

AfBPM is composed of 24 organizations, including a Steering Committee made up of Alliance for Patient Access, American Cancer Society, American Chronic Pain Association, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, Partnership for Drug-Free Kids and The Gerontological Society of America. Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals is the founding sponsor. Public or private organizations that are focused on addressing and advancing balanced pain management, reinforcing the need for safe and responsible prescribing, use, storage and disposal of prescription pain medications, and minimizing misuse of prescription pain medication may join the Alliance for Balanced Pain Management. Find out more about AfBPM and membership: www.AllianceBPM.org.

Alliance for Balanced Pain Management Member Organizations

Alliance for Patient Access
American Academy of Pain Management
American Cancer Society
American Chronic Pain Association
American Pain Society
American Society for Pain Management Nursing
Caregiver Action Network
Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America
Easter Seals
The Gerontological Society of America
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals
Men's Health Network
National Alliance for Caregiving
National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations
National Association of Chain Drug Stores
National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators
National Black Nurses Association
National Minority Quality Forum
National Patient Safety Foundation
Partnership for Drug-Free Kids
U.S. Pain Foundation
Verde Environmental Technologies, Inc.
Veterans Health Council & Vietnam Veterans of America