WEST HARTFORD, CONN. — Sept. 1, 2024 — The U.S. Pain Foundation invites patients, health care providers, researchers, lawmakers, and the public to explore ways to solve pain together this September during Pain Awareness Month.

The initiative, #SolvePainTogether, incorporates the theme, “Changing the pain equation,” and seeks to convey the many factors that must be considered to solve pain — the lived experience, the role of health care providers, the importance of updated, reliable data, and the need for more pain research to improve health outcomes.

“The chronic pain experience is extraordinarily complex, and solving pain requires wholesale effort and collaboration,” said Nicole Hemmenway, CEO of the U.S. Pain Foundation. “Medical professionals, researchers, lawmakers, everyday individuals living with pain — we all have a role to play in addressing this epidemic that affects more than 51.6 million Americans.”

The organization’s Pain Awareness Month efforts will share:

• A daily statistic or insight shared on social media about various aspects of the chronic pain experience.
• Weekly articles published on uspainfoundation.org focusing on the importance of pain data, strategies for activity management and pacing, the importance of developing an individualized pain management plan, and how to effectively communicate with medical providers.
• An infographic highlighting updated chronic pain facts.
• Webinars with presenters including NIH HEAL researcher Laura Simons, PhD, of Stanford School of Medicine.
• Five virtual Health Hack events, created for Humana Neighborhood Centers.
• A monthlong virtual Pain Series, offered in collaboration with Humana.
• Opportunities for individuals living with pain to share their experiences on social media.

U.S. Pain Foundation’s collaboration with the National Institutes of Health’s Helping to End Addiction Long-term® (HEAL) Initiative and the Humana Neighborhood Centers affirms the collective nature of effective chronic pain solutions.

“We cannot move forward with solving chronic pain without timely data and innovative research — but effective research and data require the patient voice and the inclusion of lived experience,” Hemmenway said. “This month, we will explore the strides that can be taken if we work together to solve pain.”

Through #SolvePainTogether, the U.S. Pain Foundation hopes to:

• Explore the full experience of chronic pain—from diagnosis, to building a treatment plan, to discovering who one is as a person with pain and learning to advocate—while offering practical information and support for patients and those supporting or treating them.
• Highlight the necessity of better data to understand and address chronic pain.
• Raise awareness about pain research and its impact on the more than 51.6 million Americans living with chronic pain.

For more information about the #SolvePainTogether initiative, visit uspainfoundation.org/painawarenessmonth.

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About U. S. Pain Foundation    
The mission of the U.S. Pain Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is to empower, educate, connect, and advocate for individuals living with chronic illnesses and serious injuries that cause pain, as well as their caregivers and clinicians. Visit uspainfoundation.org.