Pain care is a fundamental human right inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status.

Through their life experiences, people learn the concept of pain. A person’s report of an experience as pain should be believed and respected.

Pain is the #1 cause of disability. All people should have access to the knowledge and skills necessary for pain self-management. Access includes the availability of a skilled practitioner.

People with pain are active partners rather than passive recipients in their care. As the primary agents of change, a practitioner’s job is to provide support and strategies to facilitate pain recovery. No intervention that disempowers can lead to sustained relief and improved quality of life.

All health professionals understand pain as a multidimensional human experience unique to the individual.

Effective pain care considers risk factors and pathology but ultimately focuses on promoting health and wellbeing, builds resilience, and nurtures human growth. This is a mindset shift from pathogenesis (disease) to salutogenesis (health creation).

People with pain are being managed within a fragmented healthcare system, with a focus on a single-disease paradigm, an approach that challenges a more holistic, patient-centred response. All health professionals should possess the knowledge and skills to facilitate pain recovery. This includes understanding how biopsychosocial factors intersect with physical health, mental health, and substance use.

The evaluation and treatment of pain considers the whole person. It goes  beyond organs and body systems to look at ways to improve pain through interconnected biological, behavioral, social, and environmental areas. It recognizes and addresses the impact of lifestyle, culture, trauma, stress, emotions, social roles, and other factors. Conventional, integrative, and complementary methods should be combined to facilitate pain recovery.

The pain liberation movement is part of the disability justice movement. It may include resolving impairments and symptom reduction; however, the ultimate goal is to engage people in a process that empowers them to achieve wellness and community participation within and beyond the limits of disability. Disability justice resists ableism. Ableism is the discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior. Ableism is rooted in the assumption that disabled people require ‘fixing’ and defines people by their disability. Ableism classifies entire groups of people as ‘less than’ and includes harmful stereotypes, misconceptions, and generalizations of people with disabilities.

The pain liberation movement challenges the stigmatization and marginalization of people living with pain. Barriers towards assessment, recognition, and successful pain management exist among historically marginalized groups, including women, elderly, people of color, indigenous groups, recent immigrants, refugees, and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) communities. Bias towards historically marginalized groups influences outcome expectations in people with pain.

It also considers the impact of sociopolitical determinants such as poverty, discrimination, lack of healthcare access, education, social support services, and other social inequities. These factors affect people’s vulnerability to and capacity for pain recovery. The pain liberation movement maintains an ongoing awareness of sociopolitical movements for human rights that sustain our ability to safeguard those most vulnerable.