HealthMark Multimedia in the News:

For Immediate Release

Contact: Susan Brink, Principal
HealthMark Multimedia, LLC
PH: 202-448-6150, Ext. 201
Email:

HealthMark Multimedia Launches Cancer Pain: Your Guide to Relief™, a CD-ROM to Help Cancer Patients and Caregivers Understand and Manage Pain

Cancer patients fear pain that is associated with the disease and its treatments. Up to 90% of cancer patients may experience pain, depending on treatment, stage of disease and type of cancer. This new CD-ROM provides information to cancer patients and caregivers about pain management and gives them tools for monitoring and addressing multiple aspects of pain.

Washington, DC, June 8, 2005 - Other than death, cancer patients' greatest fear is pain. And these fears are not unfounded. People with cancer experience pain more than any other symptom. An estimated 30 to 50 percent of patients undergoing treatment for a solid tumor and 70 to 90 percent of patients with advanced disease experience chronic pain.

Patients' experience of pain varies by their diagnosis and stage of the illness. Some cancers produce little pain in early stages, but pain generally increases as the disease progresses. But wherever people are in the cancer experience, the level of pain intensity in large part determines their physical and emotional status.

Developed in partnership with the American Pain Foundation, this interactive CD-ROM provides information on important aspects of cancer pain management. This information includes possible causes of pain, the importance of assessing and describing pain, use of medications, concerns patients have regarding addiction to opioids, complementary methods of pain management such as acupuncture, and how to work with the medical system to get the best care. An interactive pain tool facilitates reporting pain to the health care team and helps patients track their pain levels and relief over time. Twelve printable fact sheets cover topics such as pain management during hospitalization, finding a pain specialist, and building trust with a doctor. Additionally there are 35 medication fact sheets that cover 220 pain and side effects medications.

A seven-minute progressive relaxation exercise is also included. Personal stories from patients and their loved ones present the challenges they face, the knowledge they have gained, and how they cope with chronic pain. The CD-ROM is narrated with supporting graphic and short text elements, making the information accessible to users with a range of education levels. Much of the information and tools are applicable to others attempting to manage pain.

Cancer Pain: Your Guide to Relief™ is available to single users for $19.95. It can be purchased at www.HealthMarkMultimedia.com.A multiuser version, for use in hospitals and doctors offices, is available for $150. Please call 202-387-7763 for institutional purchases.