Let’s teach patients about ‘pain literacy’

“What are we doing now? People are dying, and your grants sound interesting for you, but what are you going to do now?”

That was Rafael Mercado of the activist group MKE Heroin Diaries during a recent meeting of the Milwaukee City-County Heroin, Opioid and Cocaine Task Force. Mercado knows all about the trauma that drug abuse can cause. He has lived it, as have thousands of other people in Wisconsin.

And so Rafael asks a great question: “What we do now?”

One prescription I’d offer: pain literacy. We need to help people understand and use information on pain and its management. It is one thing that we can do right now.

The Wisconsin Medical Society Foundation has funded a project in Milwaukee using pain navigators, who will help patients better understand their pain when doctors and nurses don’t have the time. Community health workers in the Columba-St. Mary’s Emergency Department will offer pain management education to resolve discomfort faster and with fewer drugs.

We do pain navigation right now.

And we can take other steps, including tamping down one major risk of opioid prescriptions: unused tablets that are then sold or shared.

Studies in Staten Island N.Y., (copied in Dane County) emphasized prescribing fewer opioid tablets per prescription. Community Advocates, one of the oldest non-profits in Milwaukee, is prepared to help. Using pamphlets and posters in examination rooms, community health workers can help remind doctors of this major concern so that safe prescribing is part of their daily routines. Community Advocates is ready to start training right now.

Other actions either already have been taken, or could be. The state Legislature through the ef-

forts of state Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) and others now requires that prescriptions be tracked. And the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board now requires continuing education on opioids for licensing. Rafael, myself and hundreds of other educators are giving people the ability to discern good pain from bad and to understand when interventions are needed instead of “just doing something” with potentially harmful medicines. We’re highlighting the need to treat specific illnesses rather than react to symptoms.

Pain literacy also is taught in schools through groups such as the West Allis-West Milwaukee Heroin Opiate Task Force. Rafael does it door-to-door. The Medical Society is willing to hold sessions in any interested church or community center. We also could follow the path used in New Zealand, which set up an online pain navigation site to explain how pain occurs and how it can be managed. In addition, Take Back My Meds MKE is collecting unused medications at drop boxes throughout the community.

The pursuit of blame and shame is useless. There are some who are guilty, yes, but we are all responsible for fixing the problem. The addiction stigma has to end. Right now.

A sturdy upbringing or personal resolve will not save you and your loved ones. There are potential victims everywhere — in Franklin, Cedarburg, West Allis, Riverwest, Waukesha, Wauwatosa.

Money can help. But no amount of money changes the public’s perception. We need to increase everyone’s awareness of how to manage pain. The Medical Society and our many partners are listening to citizens whose health we swear to uphold. We will accept nothing but the speediest of resolutions to the opioid crisis.

And a good place to start is pain literacy.