A 4-Week Challenge for Pain Awareness Month - Week 3
September is Pain Awareness Month!
This month, we’re following along with IASP’s Pain Awareness Month 4-week challenge to clinicians and researchers, but empowering individuals and families with action steps to increase understanding of pain, pain management, and the experiences of those living with chronic pain.
That starts with us!
Click here for a refresher on Pain Awareness Month and to catch up on Week 1’s challenge and find Week 2 here.
A Pain Awareness Month Challenge - Week 3
As a reminder, the International Association for the Study of Pain challenged its members this month to a focus each week for spreading awareness of pain.
Even if you’re not a pain researcher, you can do a lot to spread awareness too! Mirroring the IASP challenge, here is the next step in our 4 week challenge to increase awareness of pain, particularly pain in children, teens, and young adults.
Week 3: Partner
For the third week of the challenge, we continue to level up by working on partnership. Partnering with who? Partnering how? Let’s get into it!
Too often, we feel at the mercy of science and the medical system. But lived experiences of children, teens, young adults, and families with chronic pain and your perspectives are essential! Thankfully, clinicians and researchers are recognizing this more and more. This is IASP’s mission for this week, to partner with those with lived experience with chronic pain.
So we can step up to the plate and show up as partners in advocacy, research, and healthcare. It can be hard if we’ve been hurt by the system, and we can also be agents of change.
If you’re feeling ready to take next steps, here are a few possible action items and resources to engage in partnership in growing understanding of pain and treatment of pain as well:
Practical Steps
Join pain advocacy as someone living with chronic pain (or a parent!). Your voice matters and can make a huge impact on big efforts to change things large-scale.
Here is an organization for pain research and care for children that seeks partnership with children and families!
Participate in research at the University of Michigan Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center, or ask your child’s medical provider if their clinic or hospital is running in any studies for which your child might be eligible.
Prepare for your next pain-related medical or psychology appointment using the PART method. This helps you be a PARTNER with your healthcare provider in your own pain management.
If you didn’t do it last week, consider what aspects of pain care are important for you by building your own pain plan, and sharing it with your pain team.
If you are a parent of a child with chronic pain, you can partner with your child’s school and healthcare providers to ensure that your child has the supports they need to thrive academically and socially. These relationships usually work best through partnership between these three, with parents at the heart. See last week’s suggestions on Section 504 plans or this classic post to learn more.
If you are a young adult in college or the workplace, try viewing your seeking of accommodations from professors or HR and your bosses through the lens of partnership rather than adversarial.
If you are a parent of a child with chronic pain, try viewing your relationship as a partnership to working through pain together. Too often, parents feel that they need to take the role of coach, doctor, teacher, and more. But your child has their own perspectives and wisdom as well! You don’t have to lose your authority and respect as a parent, but try involving your child in the process and see them feel empowered and flourish.
If you’re looking for a healthcare partner in navigating your or your child’s pain, please click the Get Started button at the top right of your screen for a free consultation call.