Arizona Pain will be hosting our third annual Chronic Pain Expo on Saturday September 27, 2014. It’s a free event that we open to the public with one mission in mind: Educate people about pain. As we’ll discuss, patient education is at the heart of who we are at Arizona Pain.
Benefits of pain education
In a recent YouTube video, we interviewed a few Arizona Pain doctors and patients to discuss the importance of patient education during our Chronic Pain Expo.
As I noted in that video, I believe:
“Patient education is extremely important on the road to recovery. I think a lot of organizations talk a lot about giving back to the community, but at Arizona Pain Specialists, we’ve made that a part of who we are. We have five founding principles and one of those are service.”
Along with our founding principles of Leadership, Integrity, Kindness, and Excellence, our dedication to Service guides us both in the clinic room and out during public events.
For us, service means that we deliver phenomenal patient care and give back to our community. During an event like our Chronic Pain Expo, we love seeing how those two areas of focus meet up. Not only do we get to teach our patients more about their pain conditions, but we also have a chance to talk to their caregivers, family, and friends. Our staff has the opportunity to suggest new therapies or interesting new products that can help out around the home. It also allows pain patients to meet each other in a public forum.
We think it’s crucial to have that sort of outreach if we’re ever going to help raise pain awareness and support more pain research. Through our Chronic Pain Expo, we have an opportunity to reach out to our community and give back in the form of education.
Organizing a chronic pain expo
Education is important at Arizona Pain, as evidenced by our online efforts on this blog and through our social media channels. Why, then, did we decide to take it offline in the form of a Chronic Pain Expo?
As Dr. Tory McJunkin suggests in his interview piece in the video, a Chronic Pain Expo allows for a broader reach in the community and new opportunities to discuss pain treatments. We can write numerous blogs about new pain treatments, but oftentimes, talking to a doctor who performs the treatment or physically trying out a new orthotic device can be much more meaningful for a person in pain.
Likewise, we’ve invited many vendors to the event to talk about their own products and treatment plans. In this way, it becomes much less of a one-way conversation about pain and more of a community gathering with and for people in pain.
Consider these opportunities that arise because of a free Chronic Pain Expo that’s opened up the public:
- A patient has the opportunity to discuss specific physical therapy recommendations with a physical therapist in attendance
- A caregiver learns more about dietary choices that could help their loved one in pain
- A pain patient discusses their recent mental health issues with a local psychologist who specializes in chronic pain therapy
- A patient hears about a new cutting edge study that relates directly to their pain condition
- A family member talks to both a chiropractor and an acupuncturist in one setting to help determine which therapy would best help their family member
- A patient is able to talk to the leader of a local chronic pain support group before deciding to join the group
It is because of these interactions and more that we decided to organize our Chronic Pain Expos at Arizona Pain.
As Tere Derbez-Zacher, an Olympian and Arizona Pain patient, says:
“If you come to one of these expos, you’re going to be able to find answers for whatever is bothering you or for someone that you know. And also, you’re going to learn about the different alternatives or routes that you can take in order to heal completely.”
Chronic Pain Expo details
If you’re ready to learn more about your chronic pain condition, we’d love to see you at our free Chronic Pain Expo on Saturday September 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Likewise, if a family member or friend is in pain, please feel free to attend as well! Caregivers, healthcare professionals, and members of the public are all invited.
Our Chronic Pain Expo will take place at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa at 5350 East Marriott Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85054. Find us in their Grand Sonoran Salon, rooms A-S.
Since we will have samples and materials from many local health and wellness vendors, as well as information on an array of holistic treatments, we kindly ask that you RSVP beforehand to help us ensure that we enough materials on hand. You can certainly arrive the day-of without RSVPing, however, and we will have enough materials. RSVPing just allows us to get a better count before the event. You can also RSVP easily online right now by clicking here.
If you’re attending, let us know in the comments. Also let us know if you have any questions about the event or if there is anything you’d specifically like to see or hear about during our Chronic Pain Expo. Remember, this event is about you!
Image by Adrian Clark via Flickr