“Building Bridges to Optimum Health”

On behalf of For Grace and Healthy African American Families (HAAF) in association with Charles Drew University, we would like to invite you to a unique and diversity-driven conference for women in pain, their caregivers and healthcare professionals. It is the 2nd Annual Women in Pain Conference to be held September 18, 2009 at the California Science Center in downtown Los Angeles.

Media Coverage of 2009 Women In Pain Conference

Target Audience
Women who experience persistent pain, their caregivers and healthcare providers.

Course Objectives
Upon completion of the conference, participants will be able to:
1. Gain insight into the personal experiences of women living with pain and the history of the Women in Pain Movement.
2. Describe results of scientific studies and reports on gender differences in the experience of pain.
3. Review current pain management practices.
4. Discuss the importance of gender differences in interpersonal and professional communications.
5. Identify opportunities for advocacy that can improve treatment for women in pain.
6. Identify complementary and alternative therapies for pain control.
7. Discuss the impact of chronic pain on family, friends and work relationships.
8. Review how depression can adversely impact chronic pain recovery.
9. Discuss the unique challenges caregivers of people with chronic pain face.
10. Review prescription practices that pose barriers to care for chronic pain patients.

Statement of Need
In 1998, a conference was held at the National Institutes of Health on Gender and. Pain. One of the key findings was that women experience more pain than men.  Since then there has been recognition that women also are treated differently in society and in the workplace by our legal system and by healthcare providers. Often healthcare providers fail to provide timely and optimal pain treatment and due to lack of awareness and research disparities continue. Women in pain and others can benefit from information about standard and complementary treatments for pain as well as coaching on how to communicate with physicians and other providers.

The goal of this conference is to bring women in pain and their health care providers together to learn from and support one another. The women in pain who attend the conference will have opportunities for networking for social support and advocacy activities. Pain management professionals, doctors, nurses, social workers and others will learn more about how gender matters and gain opportunities to promote better professional care for those in pain.

The following are key findings from the 1998 report and still hold true for women in pain today.

• Women experience more pain than men.
• Women discuss pain more than men.
• Women cope better with pain than men.
• Society’s attitudes towards men and women in pain may influence treatment.
• The open expression of pain sometimes helps people obtain better pain control. Being seen as “too emotional” may work against a person, however, and lead to inadequate care.
• Pain treatment that works for one gender may not work as well or at all for the other.
• Physicians, nurses and all healthcare professionals need to consider gender when they diagnose pain conditions and prescribe treatment.
• Researchers studying pain at every level, from the molecular and genetic to the clinical, need to assess the possible impact of gender. Exclusive use of males, whether animal or human, as the single group for research studies, is outmoded.

These issues are particularly important as the population grows older: women, on average, live 6 years longer than men. In a recent report on managing chronic pain in older persons, the American Geriatrics Society estimated that 25% to 50% of older persons living in the community have pain problems. About 1 in 5 older persons report taking pain-relieving medications several times a week.

When using high dosages of potent medications, including morphine and other narcotics to relieve pain, physicians worry about the possibility of addiction. Such concerns, it turns out, usually are groundless. Persons who need pain relief seldom use their medications inappropriately.

For more information on the National Institutes of Health Gender and Pain conference see http://painconsortium.nih.gov/genderandpain/Default.htm.

2nd Annual Women In Pain Conference: Gender Matters – Building Bridges to Optimum Health
Friday, September 18, 2009
California Science Center, Los Angeles, CA

Agenda:

8:15 – 9:00
Registration

9:00 – 9:10
Welcome from Denise Dador (Health Anchor, KABC)

9:10 – 9:20
Welcome from For Grace and HAAF
John Garrett, Director, For Grace
Loretta Jones, MA, Executive Director, HAAF

9:20 – 9:45
Opening Remarks/The Women in Pain Movement
Cynthia Toussaint, Founder & Spokesperson, For Grace

9:45 – 10:15
First Keynote: The Disparity Toward Women in Pain
Diane Hoffmann, JD, MS, Associate Dean for Academic Programs
Director, Law and Health Care Program, Professor of Law, University of Maryland

10:15 – 10:30
Morning Break

10:30 –11:00
Second Keynote: Alternative-Complimentary Treatments for Women In Pain
Patricia Wynn-Jones, MD
Chief, Pain Management, Olympic Hospital Los Angeles

11:00- 11:30
Women and Pain: A Dramatization
Moderator: Jean Davis, Ph.D.
Actors: David Zimmerman, Yennifer Behrans
Writers: Terri Navarra , Jack Patterson 11:30 – 1:00
Lunch/Networking

1:00 –  2:00
Breakout Sessions

2:00 –  2:30
A Bitter Pill: Barriers to Care Caused by Prescription Practices
Cheryl England, MA, Editor-in-Chief, Southern California Physician magazine

2:30 – 2:45
Afternoon Break

2:45 – 3:15
Caregivers and Pain
John Garrett, Director, For Grace
Felica Jones, Programs Coordinator, HAAF

3:15 – 3:45
Keys to Advocacy
Loretta Jones, MA, Executive Director, HAAF

3:45 – 4:00
Raffle, Closing Remarks & Thank You’s
Loretta Jones & Cynthia Toussaint

Breakout Sessions:

A:  Pain & Depression
Kenneth Wells, MD, UCLA School of Medicine
Ming Tai-Seale, MD, Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health

B:  Pharmacological & Traditional Approaches to Pain Management
Steven Richeimer, MD, Director, USC Pain Management Center

Continuing Medical Education
CME’s and CEU’s will be made available in the following disciplines: MD, RN, BSN, RD, LCSW, MFT and CHEST.

The Perinatal Advisory Council: Leadership, Advocacy and Consultation (PAC/LAC) is an approved provider by the California Board of Registered Nursing (Provider Number CEP 5862) for four contact hours of continuing education credit.

The Perinatal Advisory Council: Leadership, Advocacy and Consultation (PAC/LAC) is an approved provider of continuing medical education.  Physicians Continuing Medical Education and the American Medical Association’s Physician’s Recognition Award.

CEU’s will be provided through Phillips Graduate Institute

Conference Partners
The Los Angeles County Office of Women’s Health
The Los Angeles County Commission for Women
The LAMB Pain Foundation
CVS/Pharmacy
Medtronic
PainPathways Magazine
St. Jude Medical Neuromodulation
Pfizer

Conference Planning Committee
John Garrett, For Grace
Andrea Jones, HAAF
Felica Jones, HAAF
Loretta Jones, HAAF
Susan Nyanzi, LAC Office of Women’s Health
Melanie Rodriguez, Charles Drew University
Chrys Terry, Charles Drew University
Cynthia Toussaint, For Grace
Alana Troutt, The Troutt Group
Angela Young-Brinn, HAAF