The Facial Pain Association in America have had an amazing year raising awareness in many ways. Read below the reflection statement from the Chair published in the. FPA – Quarterly Summer 2023 edition.
We continue to work hard to raise awareness here in Australia but we can’t do it without our volunteers. Please consider how you can individually help us raise our voices.
From the Board Chair – FPA
Enduring Benefits
I am happy to report that we have had a very
successful year reaching our goals to strengthen how we support you and other community members.
Why should this be important to you? Each year we work to create an organization that is helpful and valuable to you now and in the future, or until you no longer need our support. Accomplishing these goals has an enduring impact on the FPA – in a way, they create a legacy for years to come. Take a look at these FPA initiatives:
• Dentist Initiative: Over 100,000 dentists (around one half of all U.S. dentists) have been informed about trigeminal neuralgia (TN) multiple times this year. Their new knowledge will help ensure that
those of us with TN and other forms of neuropathic facial pain will not have to endure unnecessary dental procedures.
• 2023 Virtual Conference: The presentations
by world-leading experts at April’s virtual
conference will serve our community members for years to come. In addition to the 800+ people who attended this conference, hundreds or even thousands more will benefit from the presentation recordings in the future.
• Research Assistance: Some of the eight research projects at major healthcare institutions and pharmaceutical companies that the FPA supported this past year by providing information and recruiting clinical trial participants will undoubtedly
result in new medical solutions for us in coming years…hopefully, sooner than later.
• Patient Registry: We hope to launch in the
coming year. The FPA is ready to enroll thousands of people in a patient registry that can be easily accessed and used by researchers developing new medications and other medical solutions to more effectively address neuropathic facial pain.
• Enhanced Mobile Website: We know that many people first access our website from a mobile device, and that other people only have access to a mobile device. So, we are completing an important effort to make this experience easier and more valuable.
• Filling Information Gaps: Each year, the FPA identifies existing information gaps and then works to fill those gaps by finding relevant research and/or talking with the relevant experts. Arguably, the most important asset the FPA has is information to
help people like you, so we continue to expand and strengthen our educational resources which will be used for many years.
Many of you contribute your time and/or money to the FPA each year. I hope you can see that your contributions are turned into both immediate benefits for our community as well as benefits that will be realized by those who need them in the future. We
work to leverage your generous contributions in ways that will have the greatest impact for people like us with neuropathic facial pain. You should take great satisfaction in knowing that your gifts “keep on giving.”
David Meyers
Board Chair
The Facial Pain Association
Quarterly Journal – Summer 2023
