Useful links

Resources About Kids Health – Pain in Children Resources: The About Kids Health web site hosted by Sick Kids in Toronto, Canada provides parent and child friendly material on a number of children’s health issues, including pain.  Their Pain Resource Centre has information about how to tell if your child has pain, how pain works, and how pain medicines work.

Association for the Wellbeing of Children in Healthcare (AWCH): AWCH is a national organisation advocating for the needs of children, young people and families within the health care system in Australia. Focusing upon the psycho-social needs of children and young people, AWCH is involved in education, advocacy, research and consultation, support to families and health professionals, information provision, and is available to give talks about the special needs of children in hospital and/or AWCH Services.

Canadian Pain Society (CPS): The Canadian Pain Society has many aims, including: fostering and encouraging research, promoting education, advise national, regional, and local agencies and institutions on standards relating to the use of drugs, appliances, and other procedures in the therapy of pain, among other things. (CPS, “About Us”, 2008).

ChildKind International: ChildKind International is an initiative to improve the quality of pain control for children in healthcare facilities worldwide through the awarding of a special designation and accreditation to institutions that have implemented specific policies which are known to promote pain reduction. Such an award has the potential to stimulate hospitals to address and formalize their approaches to pain management, thus fostering the goal of pain relief for all children regardless of their site of care or provider.

International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP): The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) is the leading professional forum for science, practice, and education in the field of pain. Membership of IASP is open to all professionals involved in pain research or the diagnosis and treatment of pain. IASP has more than 6,900 members in 106 countries, 69 national Chapters, and 14 Special Interest Groups (SIGs). IASP, founded in 1973, is governed by an international Council, made up of Officers and Councilors elected by the members of the association. Members may also serve on Committees and Task Forces. The current president of IASP is Troels S. Jensen. (IASP, “About IASP”, 2008).

PainBytes: This website contains information to enable young people to develop skills and knowledge in pain self management, in partnership with the youth’s healthcare providers. Through watching a series of 7 episodes online, youth can develop skills and strategies to manage their pain and develop a Pain Management Strategy.

IASP Special Interest Group on Pain in Childhood (SIG): The SIG “promote education about pain in children, share relevant information about children’s pain control, advance our ability to alleviate children’s pain from an international and interdisciplinary perspective, and to encourage research, particularly multicenter studies, and studies which focus on unique problems of pediatrics, including newborns.” (SIG, “Home”, 2008). The SIG web site also offers links to numerous web sites with information about pediatric pain for health professionals, children, and families. Click here for more information. Click here to access the Pediatric Pain Letter.

The Sandbox Project: The Sandbox Project was created to respond to recent and startling research conducted on behalf of the Government of Canada by Dr. Kellie Leitch in 2007/2008 who  discovered that Canada is slipping further behind its peer countries when it comes to key health indicators for children and youth. Their vision is to help make Canada the healthiest place on earth for children and youth to grow up. In particular, they are focused on improving health outcomes with respect to injury prevention, obesity, mental health, and the environment. This is no small task; however, there is no more important challenge than to improve the health of our children and youth through evidenced-based public policy.

Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP): SKIP is a knowledge mobilization network hosted at Dalhousie University and co-led by Children’s Healthcare Canada whose mission is to improve children’s pain management by mobilizing evidence-based solutions through coordination and collaboration.