Paul Arnstein, RN, PhD

Clinical Nurse Specialist for Pain Relief
Massachusetts General Hospital

“I believe people should not live or die with uncontrolled pain because of unrealistic fears or mistaken beliefs about available treatments.”

Michael Brennan, MD

 

“One of the things that drives me is knowing that chronic pain is so pernicious that it must be aggressively addressed. I think of ‘the dis-integrating’ effects of chronic pain. Left untreated, individuals are separated from their careers, their friends, their families and ultimately themselves. Our job as clinicians is to try to put those pieces back in place one patient at a time. As advocates it is to ensure that pain is appreciated and treated, and that no one individual or group stops the life saving work that is desperately needed.”

Jim Broatch, MSW

Executive Director
Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Society of America

“Unrelenting chronic pain can suck out a person’s life blood. To a person with a pain score of 10, hope is too often a meaningless four-letter word. The Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association (RSDSA) is dedicated to helping individuals with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) become informed consumers, obtain treatment with knowledgeable, compassionate, and team-oriented medical professionals, and encourages advocacy efforts for translational research so that today’s mediocre pain interventions are not those of tomorrow.”

Pamela Brown

Past-Chair
Intercultural Cancer Council

“Pain has many faces. Too many of them are shades of brown and black. Pain doesn’t discriminate; it just waits for an open door.”

Micke Brown, BSN, RN

Director of Communications
American Pain Foundation

“Change can happen through actions big and small. Pain advocacy happens every time someone stands up and speaks out for effective pain care; whether as a person who lives with pain or one who speaks on the behalf of those in pain. When a healthcare professional “listens and hears” a person’s pain report, then appropriately acts to improve the pain treatment plan, he or she is serving as a pain advocate. When a person living with pain or caregiver writes a letter to the editor about a news article, attends a community education program or visits legislators at City Council, the State Capital or Capital Hill to promote for a positive change in how pain is treated, he or she is serving as a pain advocate. Each day an opportunity presents itself where YOU can advocate for the right for pain to be treated effectively and for those who live with pain to be treated with respect. Be brave. Be bold. Be proud. No action reaps no rewards. Change can happen only when you act. The first step is to take one.”