What is National Pain Week?
National Pain Week 2023 is Australia’s annual awareness event for chronic pain.
Chronic Pain Australia wants to draw attention to the experience of people living with chronic pain and, by doing so, reduce the social and other barriers related to living and managing chronic pain.This year’s theme ‘Let them know how strong you are’ and ‘painchanger’ aims to break down the stigma of talking about and seeking care for people experiencing chronic pain. Many are taught to hide their pain for fear of appearing weak.
The “she’ll be right” attitude is often adopted when addressing individuals chronic pain, leading to worsened, long-term impacts for both themselves, their family, friends, and colleagues.
This National Pain Week, we are encouraging a national conversation around people who live with chronic pain. By creating national conversations, we spread useful resources and tools for those living with chronic pain. We often hear people describe trying a new pain management tool as a ‘gamechanger’, so we have created the theme ‘painchanger’ as a play on words for this year’s theme.
Let them know how strong you are
The annual National Pain Survey is central to Chronic Pain Australia’s continued advocacy as it provides stakeholders with a national snapshot of the experience of people living with chronic pain.
Thank you to our community for your participation in this year’s survey.
The National Pain Survey Report will allow Chronic Pain Australia to better advocate on behalf of painchangers to relevant stakeholders, including Government, the media and industry partners.
register for National pain week updates
Event Programme
11 AM – 12 PM AEST – Facebook live session
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Join us for the opening event of this year’s National Pain Week, State of Pain Panel Discussion, to hear industry experts unveil and discuss the new results from the 2023 National Pain Survey. The premiere event will include fruitful dialogue between key opinion leaders from Australia’s pain sector as they discuss chronic pain issues and insights related to awareness, affordability and accessibility gained from the lived experiences of people living with chronic pain. We hope you can join us to kick off Australia’s most significant pain awareness week! |
5.30 PM AEST – Video posted on Facebook |
Medicinal Cannabis is easily one of the most talked about topics within the chronic pain community. For many Australians living with chronic pain, medicinal cannabis has been a ‘painchanger’. Dr Rebecca Graham will provide her own clinical expertise and practical advice, discussing key issues such as cost, access, driving and the latest evidence in a 4-part webinar series. Topics covered in Part 1 include:
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11.30 AM – 12 PM AEST – Facebook live session
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Curious about up-to-date treatments and management options for your chronic pain? Join our Facebook Live Event, Frontiers in Pain Research, to learn more about how to manage chronic pain for yourself or a loved one. This session will include industry experts discussing novel treatments and management strategies for chronic pain. This dialogue will also break down the evidence for consumers and provide renewed hope for meaningful advances in chronic pain treatment and its management. |
5.30 PM AEST – Video posted on Facebook |
Medicinal Cannabis is easily one of the most talked about topics within the chronic pain community. For many Australians living with chronic pain, medicinal cannabis has been a ‘painchanger’. Dr Rebecca Graham will provide her own clinical expertise and practical advice, discussing key issues such as cost, access, driving and the latest evidence in a 4-part webinar series. Topics covered in Part 2 include:
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11 AM – 12 PM AEST – Facebook live session
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Are you seeking information about chronic pain management? Join our Facebook Live Event, New Horizons and Innovations in Pain Management, for the opportunity to learn about the latest developments in the field and gain insights into potential treatment options. Hear from our expert speakers, who are dedicated to improving access and affordability of pain management, share their expertise and perspectives on the future prospects and innovations in pain management. This dialogue will include potential upcoming over-the-counter medications and leading-edge pain management techniques, including medicinal cannabis. |
5.30 PM AEST – Video posted on Facebook |
Medicinal Cannabis is easily one of the most talked about topics within the chronic pain community. For many Australians living with chronic pain, medicinal cannabis has been a ‘painchanger’. Dr Rebecca Graham will provide her own clinical expertise and practical advice, discussing key issues such as cost, access, driving and the latest evidence in a 4-part webinar series. Topics covered in Part 3 include:
|
5.30 PM AEST – Video posted on Facebook |
Medicinal Cannabis is easily one of the most talked about topics within the chronic pain community. For many Australians living with chronic pain, medicinal cannabis has been a ‘painchanger’. Dr Rebecca Graham will provide her own clinical expertise and practical advice, discussing key issues such as cost, access, driving and the latest evidence in a 4-part webinar series. Topics covered in Part 4 include:
|
11 AM – 12 PM AEST – Facebook live session
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Our closing event for National Pain Week discusses the ‘Great Debate: Alcohol, Pain, and Opioids’. The panel will cover the use of alcohol and non-medicinal cannabis to cope with chronic pain and the pressure plaguing the medical community to reduce prescription opioids. Our panel of experts will share their perspectives, practical tips, and strategies. |
Connect with fellow painchangers
We have created digital spaces for you to connect with fellow painchangers to discuss your lived experiences. This is a space to share tips, insights and an outlet to get things off your chest to a supportive community who are experiencing similar situations to you.
You're not alone
Mr Pain Podcast
Mr Pain is hosted by Brent Hedley and powered by Chronic Pain Australia, Australia's national voice for people living with chronic pain.
Introducing Mr Pain, a podcast devoted to supporting Australian men who live with chronic pain. Season 1 of Mr Pain explores the concept of Dads in Pain – how pain often intersects with family life and what men who manage chronic pain can do to help us be the best fathers, partners, brothers, or sons that we can be.
download our resources below
This Toolkit contains resources and relevant information to engage and show your support for this year’s National Pain Week campaign.
Chronic pain members, supporters and partners are strongly encouraged to share and amplify this year’s theme: ‘Let them know how strong you are’ by utilising the free resources downloadable below.
Be a painchanger today and share this toolkit with your family, friends, and colleagues.
- Download the NPW2023 promotional video
- Download the NPW2023 infographic
- Download the NPW2023 ‘Flagship’ social media tile
- Download the NPW2023 ‘Flagship’ A4 poster with QR code
Made possible with our generous partners
