PEOPLE living with chronic pain have cited costs as a key barrier to accessing health professionals, including pain specialists.
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Eighty-seven per cent of the more than 1200 respondents to Chronic Pain Australia’s annual National Pain Week survey said accessing health professionals other than their GP was ‘prohibitively expensive’.
Physiotherapists, psychologists, nurses, dietitians and pain specialists were among the professions given as examples.
Chronic Pain Australia president, Dr Coralie Wales said people living with chronic pain faced a daily battle: fighting physical pain, mental health issues, and the subsequent financial pressures of being unable to work to their full capacity.
“Feeling unsupported by the government, and being discriminated against, judged or not believed by friends, family and work colleagues can make their situation even more difficult to cope with,” Dr Wales said.
An overwhelming 98.6 per cent of the survey participants said they did not feel the federal government was doing enough to support people living with chronic pain.
Three-quarters of the respondents wanted their GPs to be able to prescribe medicinal cannabis to treat their pain, and 70 per cent disagreed with the government’s decision to up-schedule codeine.
“For many people living with 24/7 pain, current medical options come with side-effects that can be quite disabling in themselves,” Dr Wales said.
“Overwhelmingly they want access to other options. Medicinal cannabis represents a new possibility to help treat their chronic pain. What we’re hearing is that people living with chronic pain want simpler access, without feeling like criminals.”
Stigma remained a key challenge for people living with chronic pain, with 86 per cent of the survey participants reporting negative attitudes due to their condition.
One respondent said, “People think I’m faking my pain.”
Another reported being told by family, friends, and even their boss, “But you don’t look sick.”
Dr Wales said people living with chronic pain wanted the government to acknowledge it could be disabling and provide access to the Disability Support Pension.
“I'm so sick of not having enough money to live a basic life because I'm too disabled to work, but doctors won't listen to me, and Centrelink won't let me get disability unless a doctor says I need it, and everyone just looks at me like I’m a lazy dole bludger… it makes me feel so worthless,” a survey respondent said.
One in five Australians live with chronic pain.
Chronic pain is expected to become more prevalent as Australia’s population ages. As it is, one in three people over the age of 65 lives with chronic pain.
Patients with chronic pain account for one in five GP consultations, with almost five per cent of patients seeing a GP for severe, disabling pain.
National Pain Week, which starts today, aims to promote understanding of chronic pain.
Chronic Pain Australia is also advocating for the experiences of people with chronic pain to be considered in relation to health policy.
The organisation has encouraged people living with chronic pain to share their experiences and ideas on its Chronic Pain Forum or on social media using the hashtags #NPW2018, #NationalPainWeek, #BeBold, #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs.
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