It’s worrying to think that anyone should have to choose between eating regular meals or managing a chronic condition. But with many people around Australia struggling with the rising cost of living, this dilemma is becoming a painful reality for some.
A recent survey of 1500 people living with chronic pain by not-for-profit Chronic Pain Australia revealed that respondents are cutting back on food for their households in order to afford medications and the services of health specialists, with 70 per cent saying they had gone without essential foods to continue managing their chronic pain.
In many cases, respondents were prioritising maintaining their private health cover over other essentials, with 65 per cent of those surveyed with private health insurance also saying they were cutting back on food and fuel as a result of the costs associated with managing their condition.
Fiona Hodson, President of Chronic Pain Australia, says the lack of public and professional awareness around chronic pain continues to create barriers to accessing affordable and evidenced-based pain management approaches.
“As the cost of living rises, many of the 3.6 million Australians living with chronic pain may experience shortfalls and setbacks in their chronic pain management,” she said.
“Health services and treatment options that are inaccessible due to remoteness, and also unaffordable for many, can force people living with chronic pain to seek out unsafe ways to manage and cope with their pain. Many don’t feel like they have a choice.
“This issue is only going to become more acute as people living with chronic pain struggle to afford the holistic professional care they need and are forced to increasingly rely on medication or medication substitutes,”
Challenging costs
The survey revealed more than half of respondents paid $200 or more a month out of their own pockets to see medical specialists for their pain condition, but this is a burden that not all respondents could manage, with 55 per cent saying they’d been unable to see specialist health practitioners over the past 12 months due to cost.
Giulia Jones, CEO of leading pain advocacy body Painaustralia, points to the many costs associated with managing chronic pain
“Chronic pain, like any chronic illness, takes its toll on people’s finances, their productivity and their social and private lives,” she said.
“We know that cost-of-living hikes, as we’ve seen in recent times, affect the ability of those with pain to pay for medications, to see doctors, physios and psychologists, and to stay in control of their medical care in general. Feeding and housing the family come first and medical care comes later in people’s priorities, and that’s why the cost of medicines and medical appointments must be watched very carefully in times like these.”
Ms Jones adds that pain management is currently not well supported through subsidisation programs.
“In fact, over the past two years, we’ve seen the disappearance of several MBS Items for pain management,” she said. “Public patients wait a long time for public pain clinics – over 12 months in many clinics – and private clinics are beyond the financial capacity of many people living with chronic pain, whose finances are already affected by their condition.”
Painaustralia is working closely with the new federal government to seek new MBS item numbers and will be talking further into 2023 about pain and how it affects those who are already under financial pressure.
“This is so important,” Ms Jones said. “Medical assistance and allied health assistance can empower people living with pain, but it’s no good if it’s too expensive or if people are having to choose between good pain care and essential living items like food and electricity.”
Other barriers to care
According to the Chronic Pain Australia survey, accessibility is also a major issue confronting people living with chronic pain. While cost tops the list of reasons people living with chronic pain struggle to obtain care, 33 per cent of respondents said transport was a challenge, while 19 per cent struggled to get time off work.
Lack of awareness on where to turn for help was also a major barrier, with 61 per cent of those surveyed saying they didn’t know who they should see about their condition.
If professionally prescribed treatment options are inaccessible or unaffordable, a proportion of people living with chronic pain turn to unmonitored treatments, including alcohol (48 per cent), cigarettes (28 per cent), and non-medicinal cannabis (26 per cent).
This raises further concerns for some of the 3.6 million Australians who are self-medicating to manage their chronic pain due to the issues of unaffordability and access for treatment, says Ms Hodson, with many risking side effects and setbacks that can lead to hospitalisations.
“It’s important that there’s greater awareness, affordability and accessibility to assist people living with chronic pain,” she said. “People living with chronic pain deserve ‘triple AAA’ standards of care.”
This feature was originally published in the October issue of Retail Pharmacy magazine.
