10/24/02

Kansas LIFE Project Announces Boards' "Joint Statement"

Kansas Licensing Boards, Professional Associations and Consumers join in demonstrating concerted effort to improve pain management for all Kansans

This update includes information about LIFE's efforts to improve pain management for all Kansans: LIFE Project Press Release, October 22, 2002 (in PDF format)

Background and Overview

Media and Participant Briefing: On Tuesday, October 22, the LIFE Project was pleased to announce the "Joint Policy Statement of the Kansas Boards of Healing Arts, Nursing and Pharmacy on the Use of Controlled Substances for the Treatment of Pain" (in PDF format).

The joint statement grew from the ongoing work of the LIFE Project and many of our partners. In 1999, the LIFE Project first approached the Kansas Healthcare Data Governing Board asking for help in gathering data related to end-of-life care. In 2000, the data was gathered, via survey, by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment through the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System.

In March 2001, the Kansas LIFE Project convened numerous LIFE Project Partners, including the Kansas Boards of Healing Arts, Nursing and Pharmacy, to identify strategies to lead in addressing the needs for improved pain management. Through collaborative effort, these LIFE Project Partners worked together to create the joint statement. The statement was created and approved by all three boards in the summer of 2002. It reflects the depth of commitment and desire that Kansas licensing boards have to supporting, encouraging and expecting quality and excellence in the assessment and management of pain.

The Kansas Boards of Healing Arts, Nursing and Pharmacy are the first licensing boards in the nation to issue such a statement that addresses chronic, acute and terminal pain. Coverage of the media event appeared in the October 23 edition of the Wichita Eagle. The story, titled "In pain? New rules may help" features Emily Taylor, Chair of the Lawrence Caring Community Council.

The LIFE Project's meeting, "The Future of End-of-Life Care," was held in Wichita, Kansas, on October 22-23, 2002, with a media and participant briefing on commitment to pain management. The briefing featured a visible and public presence by the Kansas Boards of Healing Arts, Nursing and Pharmacy, as well as the Kansas Association of Osteopathic Medicine, the Kansas Medical Society, the Kansas State Nurses Association, the Kansas Pharmacy Association and numerous others of the LIFE Project Partners.

As a coalition that addresses public policy, professional education and public engagement, the LIFE Project worked to include consumers and advocacy groups and to direct the joint statement to both healthcare professionals and consumers. Indeed, the statement says, "the boards adopt this statement to help assure health care providers and patients that it is the policy of this state to encourage competent comprehensive care for the treatment of pain."

David Joranson, Pain and Policy Studies Group at the University of Wisconsin, says, "Balanced efforts like these provide an excellent example for boards in other states that have not yet addressed the inadequate treatment of pain."

The Public Awareness Campaign

With help from capable partners in this work, we were able to obtain good media coverage and successfully launch our public engagement campaign, "Every Kansan should expect good pain management." The public awareness campaign will continue, with public service announcements aired by LIFE Project Partner, the Kansas Association of Broadcasters. The PSAs encourage Kansans to not accept pain as an inevitable part of illness, to not let fears keep them from getting good pain management, to become informed and to expect good pain management. The LIFE Project and numerous partners will continue to provide information and resources - to public policy leaders, healthcare professionals and consumers. And LIFE's consumer advocacy groups - Caring Communities-will engage in numerous activities across the state. Consumers, with powerful stories to tell, were our guests for the event.

A photographic display of real Kansans has been made into a campaign theme poster (see right). LIFE Project Partners will display the posters in acute and long-term care facilities, pharmacies, clinics, churches, libraries and numerous other locations all across Kansas.

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John Carney, Co-Founder of the LIFE Project, unveils the new poster, "Every Kansan should expect good pain management!" during the October 22 luncheon.

Donna Bales, President and CEO of the LIFE Project, introduces panelists during the October 22 press briefing to announce the "Joint Policy Statement on the Use of Controlled Substances for the Treatment of Pain". (L to R: Pat Plank, Kansas State Nurses Association; Jerry Slaughter, Kansas Medical Society; Chip Wheelen, Kansas Association of Osteopathic Medicine; Dr. Gary Doolittle, University of Kansas School of Medicine; Donna Bales; Dr. Roger Warren, Kansas State Board of Healing Arts; Mary Blubaugh, Kansas State Board of Nursing; Susan Linn, Kansas State Board of Pharmacy; Dr. Robert Haneke, Kansas State Board of Pharmacy; and Dr. Robert Twillman, Kansas Pain Initiative.

LIFE Project
1901 University - Wichita, Kansas 67213-3325
316.263.6380
316.263.6542 fax
HELPLINE (tollfree) 888-202-5433
888-202-LIFE
contact@lifeproject.org