3 December 2009

A new pain management diary has been developed by Arthritis NSW and the National Prescribing Service (NPS) to help healthcare providers work with patients to determine optimum pain management plans.

Doctors, pharmacists, physiotherapists, nurses, specialists and other health professionals are encouraged to promote the resource to patients which records the necessary information needed to make an accurate diagnosis and treatment regimen.

“More than 3.85 million Australians live with chronic pain caused by arthritis, many of whom are not achieving adequate pain relief with their current medicine regimen,” Arthritis NSW CEO Karen Filocamo said.

“We know that many people also experience break-through pain and try to manage it themselves with low dose analgesics and may not think to discuss this with their doctor.”

“The pain management diary is very detailed and includes the person’s mood, sleep and physical activity as well as the steps taken to alleviate the pain and whether they worked. This information is vital to determining treatment however consumers may not pass on this level of detail,” Mrs Filocamo said.

NPS CEO, Dr Lynn Weekes said the diary will help patient/ doctor communication and enable people to take a more active role in their own health management.

“Describing chronic pain can be very difficult,” Dr Weekes said.

“Having a written record helps health professionals understand the individual’s whole pain experience and enables the patient and doctor to develop the most appropriate treatment plan. The diary will empower people to take better control of their health and will lead to more effective use of pain relief medicines.”

“As part of our commitment to providing resources to culturally and linguistically diverse audiences a summarised version of the resource is also available in Chinese, as there a large number of Chinese Australians who are affected by arthritis,” Dr Weekes said.

For a copy of the diary go to www.nps.org.au/manageyourpain or www.arthritisnsw.org.au or call Arthritis NSW toll free 1800 011 041.

ENDS

The National Prescribing Service Limited (NPS) is an independent, not-for-profit organisation for quality use of medicines funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.