1.Do you think pain should be considered a public health issue? Why or why not? (At least 200 words)
Pain is defined as the unpleasant experience which may sometimes lead to damage of an individual’s body tissues. Pain should be considered as a public problem due to the fact it affects a huge number of individuals within the society. Since it influences a huge number of individuals within the society it may at times reciprocate in affecting the public as a whole. Further research showed that pain goes ahead to affect an average of 100Million American adults.
In addition to this, the issue of pain further affects the economy of the society that the individuals who are suffering from it live in. This is due to the fact that pain is said to reduce the individual's quality of life and further they are unable to adequately work to their full potential. It is estimated that pain costs the society between $560- $635 Billion annually. This means that the pain has affected the community as a whole, hence it may be considered to be a public health problem.
Further, pain goes ahead to influence the way the individual cooperates with the other members of the public. Due to the pain the person’s moods may be affected and how he or she relates to his or her family will be affected. From this it is clear that pain does not only affect the pain sufferer but also the public as a whole.
2. Why do think people who suffer with pain are ignored or simply medicated? (At least 200 words)
People who suffer from pain are normally ignored or medicated due to the fact that it is believed that pain is caused by other outside issues for example diseases and other pathogens. This in turn means that the public understands that pain cannot effectively stand on its own as a disease or as a condition. This is since it is said that it is attached to a condition that has already been identified.
However, from the research it was clear that pain causes the changes in the individuals in a distinct manner and rather it can stand on its own due to the fact that it is psychological and cognitive effects on the pain sufferer. Due to these facts, the committee was if the opinion that the pain be treated as a separate disease entity. This is since it may cause the change in the individual’s nervous system. Further, it was realized that in case the pain is not looked into at an earlier stage, then it might further transition to a chronic state. The chronic pain may further end up affecting the individuals socially, physically and biologically.
As seen from the lecture, it is clear that the only way that one can perfectly manage pain is by his or her understanding the issue that has befallen them. This ability to understand, however, does not come easy, but rather it requires that individuals be educated and trained on how they can self-manage the issue of pain.
This is not an issue that affects only the pain sufferer but rather it is a downside of the community as a whole. Due to the society non-understanding and having the knowledge of how to handle pain, then tackling the issue of pain management will be pretty difficult. This then calls for health educators to have in place various programs that will help instill the knowledge and skills on how to tackle pain when one of the members of the society is suffering.
The programs must not only look into the issue of how to deal with pain, but rather they must have in place measures of teaching the public what really pain is. In that only to help the society understand what pain is. From them understanding the issue of how to manage pain is said to be the first step of pain management.
In addition to this, the training of the public on how to adequately manage pain, will in turn lead to the pain management to be effective. This is due to the fact that the cooperation of the family, the health practitioners and the family is a vital step for pain management to be effective.
Lastly, this public education will enable the educators to be able to demystify various myths and conspiracies pertaining to the issue of pain. With this knowledge the health educators will have the ability of breaking through the various barriers that would deter individuals from being able to seek help in terms of pain. With this knowledge then they will be able to combat this issue before it reaches to the chronic levels.4. What information did you learn from the presentation that you had not considered before? From the presentation, I was able to learn that pain is not always only caused by issues that were already identified and it has its own pathologic basis and its effects are distinct and separate from the other diseases or factors. Earlier I was of the view that pain may only be caused if one is either sick or by them hitting themselves. But the research cleared this wrong thought.
Work Cited
Bicknell Lecture. Noreen Clark.., Sept. 2012. June 2016.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sRMYn-VX1U. Web
