By JO HARRISON
PEOPLE living with chronic pain shared their stories from across Australia taking part in a live feed using the National Broadband Network.
Hosted by Chronic Pain Australia President Dr Coralie Wales at the Armidale Digital Hub, local pain sufferers and their carers joined communities in Tamworth, Townsville, Mill Park in Melbourne and the Adelaide Hills to participate in a virtual conference for people in pain.
“This is a trailblazing event where we are testing out the value of the NBN to connect people living with chronic pain, one of the most isolating and marginalising experiences that people can have,” Dr Wales said.
“This virtual conference is one of the highlights for National Pain Week where Armidale has been a hub for this national campaign, a great achievement for a small rural community.”
Dr Wales runs a weekly support group for people and carers dealing with chronic pain at the Armidale Hospital. She is hoping to build capacity and energy to deal with pain better.
“The aim of National Pain Week is to de-stigmatise chronic pain and shed light on the problem by sharing really good research based information that is actually quite hopeful,” Dr Wales said.
“Ten years ago if you went to the doctor you were told you had to live with it.
“In my early years I dealt with a lot of suicide calls because people just couldn’t deal with it.”
According to Dr Wales treatment today is changing and giving hope for sufferers of pain.
During the virtual conference a participant from Tamworth spoke about the isolation she feels when trying to deal with pain.
“The potential to reduce the burden of that isolation and improve their situations by sharing and communicating regularly with other people is what today’s conference is all about,” she said.
“Having a network of friends and colleagues who don’t judge and listen can have a physiological affect on people and over time they improve.”
Anyone interested in participating in the local Armidale support group can contact Wendy Nimmo at wendy.nimoo@hnehealth.nsw.gov.au
