CHICAGO, June 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — The American Pain
Foundation (APF) today announced the launch of “Explain Your Pain,”
an educational initiative designed to help educate Hispanic
Americans about chronic pain and foster improved dialogue between
people with pain and their health care providers. A growing
body of research demonstrates that minorities, including Hispanics,
are less likely to have access to pain management services and
treatments, have their pain documented by health care providers or
receive pain medications compared to other patient populations.
Many Hispanic Americans are further burdened by language barriers
and cultural beliefs about pain.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110627/CL25498LOGO)
Results from the Chronic Pain in America survey estimate that 9
percent of adult Americans suffer from moderate to severe
non-cancer related chronic pain. Chronic pain is ongoing or
recurrent pain that lasts beyond the usual course of an acute
illness or injury or more than three to six months, and negatively
affects a person’s well-being. If untreated or undertreated, pain
can negatively impact a person’s quality of life and make daily
activities difficult. There can be physical and emotional impacts
from chronic pain. Unfortunately, many people with pain are
uncomfortable acknowledging and accepting their condition, and
therefore fail to discuss the topic with their health care
provider.
For Hispanic Americans, cultural biases may compound their
attitude about pain and ultimately impact their treatment. In
one study of Hispanics and African Americans with cancer pain, 80
percent of patients waited until their pain severity was a 10 on a
10-point scale before calling their oncology clinic or health care
provider.
“With a significant percentage of Hispanic Americans living in
Chicago, the need to address the disparities in hea
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