ASPI E-Newsletter

The ASPI E-Newsletter is an e-mail update on pain related issues and events and the activities of the Alliance of State Pain Initiatives. To receive the ASPI E-Newsletter, please email Ronna Popkin at rapopkin@wisc.edu
Click here for past E-Newsletters.

November 2008 E-Newsletter

Crossing into New Frontiers at the ASPI 19th Annual Meeting

Carol Curtiss Receives ASPI Distinguished Service Award

State Pain Initiative Champions Honored

New Patient Education Video from the South Carolina Pain Initiative

Participants Needed for NIH Funded Studies on Pain

Crossing into New Frontiers at the ASPI 19th Annual Meeting

The lively Halloween festivities didn’t spook the attendees of the Alliance of State Pain Initiatives’ 19th Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Pain Management, which was held October 30 – November 1, 2008 in Austin, Texas. Over 170 health care professionals, educators, researchers, and advocates from 33 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, and Israel were treated to top quality presentations and came away from the meeting inspired, energized, and armed with new resources to transform the culture of pain care. The extremely positive feedback from participants is testament to the meeting's unique format, which emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to improving pain management. The meeting's success also reflects the extraordinarily hard work put in by the host Initiative, the Texas Pain Advocacy and Information Network. Mark your calendar for the 20th Annual Meeting, which will be held at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco, CA from October 23 – 25, 2009.

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Carol Curtiss Receives ASPI Distinguished Service Award

Carol Curtiss, MSN, RN-BC, is the 2008 recipient of the ASPI's Distinguished Service Award. The award recognizes Carol's extensive contributions to the State Pain Initiative movement and to improving pain management, cancer survivorship, and end-of-life care. Countless persons with pain have benefited from Carol's dedication and passion to the mission of improving pain relief through her work as a clinical nurse specialist consultant and advanced practice nurse. Carol has also played an integral role in building and sustaining the State Pain Initiative movement through her leadership in the Massachusetts Pain Initiative and dedicated service on the Advisory Council of the ASPI. Congratulations, Carol, on an honor greatly deserved!

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State Pain Initiative Champions Honored

Each year, the ASPI recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the growth, development, and accomplishments of their State Pain Initiative. Congratulations to the following 2008 State Pain Initiative Champions:

Jeanne Connolly-Horrigan, MS - Massachusetts Pain Initiative
Karen Ogle, MD - Michigan Cancer Pain Initiative
Kathryn Borgenicht, MD - Montana Pain Initiative
Kelly Doherty, RN-C, MSN, ARNP-BC - New Hampshire Pain Initiative
Sharon Lucas, MSW, LCSW - Southern California Cancer Pain Initiative
Larry Driver, MD - Texas Pain Advocacy and Information Network

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New Patient Education Video from the South Carolina Pain Initiative

As part of its effort titled Project APPROACH (Awareness of Patient Pain & Rights for Optimal Assessment and Communication in Hospitals), the South Carolina Pain Initiative (SCPI) created a patient education pain management video entitled Managing Your Pain. The video discusses pain assessment scales, tips for communicating with a healthcare team, and barriers to receiving appropriate pain management. Managing Your Pain was originally developed for use in South Carolina hospitals but is broad enough to be used in other healthcare settings across the country. A video package that includes English and Spanish versions of the video, printable patient education materials, and professional education training modules will be available for distribution in the upcoming months. Project APPROACH was supported by a partnership grant from the Alliance of State Pain Initiatives and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Other partners of this SCPI project include The Carolinas Center for Hospice and End of Life Care, South Carolina Hospital Association, South Carolina Cancer Alliance, and Medical University of South Carolina. For more information about Project APPROACH and the Managing Your Pain video package, please email the SCPI Coordinator, Shannon Johnson.

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Participants Needed for NIH Funded Studies on Pain

The National Institutes of Health is funding two studies that test the effectiveness of Web-based support programs designed to help people better cope with migraine and back pain. Both studies, which are being coordinated by the independent research firm Inflexxion, Inc., are currently recruiting participants. For more information on these studies, please click on the links below and/or contact the following individuals:

Back Pain Study
Aron Kaufman, Research Coordinator
akaufman@inflexxion.com
800-848-3895, ext 258

Migraine Study
Dan Surette, Research Coordinator
dsurette@inflexxion.com
800-848-3895, ext 273

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The Alliance of State Pain Initiatives and the University of Wisconsin-Madison do not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process described in the E-Newsletter, and the reference to any of these resources does not imply endorsement.

Contact Us: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Rm 4720 1300 University Ave Madison, WI 53706 Phone: (608) 265-4013 Fax: (608) 265-4014 aspi@mailplus.wisc.edu