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If you or someone you know is suffering from shingles or after-shingles pain, you
are not alone. Every year, approximately 1 million Americans will develop shingles1.
And one out of every five people who have suffered from shingles may go on to develop
postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), also known as after-shingles pain2.
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Six events
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700 attendees
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61,000 visitors to AfterShingles.com
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156,026,454 media impressions
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"Knowledge is power. This was time well spent." — Miami attendee
After touching lives in nearly every corner of the United States, The Patchwork
of Hope NetworkTM (P.H.N.), an educational campaign
led by the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and the National Pain Foundation (NPF),
wrapped up its national tour in New York City. Two days of special events in mid-September
further spread the word about the signs and symptoms of Postherpetic Neuralgia (PHN),
also known as after-shingles pain, and “sewed together” more stories from men and
women in an effort to give a voice to those suffering from this silent pain.
On September 15—which was recognized as PHN Awareness Day by the NPF—special P.H.N.
street teams, accompanied by mimes who visually depicted the pain often felt by
people suffering from PHN, fanned out across New York City. The mimes used vivid
gestures to engage passers-by and made live appearances among the audiences of Good
Morning America and The Today Show. Meanwhile, the street teams handed out goodie
bags containing t-shirts, pens and educational materials to nearly 5,000 older adults.
The following day, two New York-area senior centers played host to the Patchwork
of Hope Network educational seminars. More than 100 attendees gathered at the The
Carter Burden Luncheon Club & Senior Program on the Upper East Side and the Andrew
Jackson Senior Center in the Bronx. Dr. Christopher Gharibo, director of Pain Medicine
and assistant professor of Anesthesiology at NYU School of Medicine, and Ernesto
Lopez, M.D., medical director of the Washington Heights Medical Plaza were joined
by representatives from the NCOA and NPF to discuss the increased risk for shingles
and after-shingles pain in older Americans. John and Kathy Sebby engaged The Carter
Burden Luncheon Club & Senior Program audience with their personal struggles with
after-shingles pain.
As the 2009 campaign came to an end, more than 700 virtual and physical quilt squares
had been decorated representing people struggling with and affected by shingles
and PHN across the nation, including in the P.H.N. host cities of Miami, Dallas,
San Diego, Chicago, Atlanta and New York City, where live educational events were
held. Additionally more than 500 P.H.N. seminar toolkits were shipped to senior
centers in nearly all 50 states and Canada, providing resources for those centers
to host their own events. More than 83 centers are on the waiting list for an updated
2010 kit and the list of requests continues to grow.
To join the growing Patchwork of Hope Network and to create your own virtual quilt
square, visit AfterShingles.com.
For every virtual quilt square made, Endo Pharmaceuticals will make a $5 donation
to the Visiting Nurse Associations of America (VNAA) to support shingles and PHN
education.
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