Mayday PainLink: A Virtual Community of Institutions Committed to Relieving Pain

PainLink was a virtual community of health professionals working in institutions committed to alleviating pain. An initiative of Education Development Center, Inc., PainLink was established in 1995 with funding from The Mayday Fund of New York City, which funded PainLink through 1999. From 1995 through 2001, EDC’s PainLink staff worked with staff in over 60 hospitals and nursing homes. Participating institutions received technical assistance (TA) which included administration of the Pain Management inventory (a clinician survey of knowledge, attitudes, institutional barriers, and pain management learning needs), teaching cases, consultation with EDC staff, a listserve discussion, and access to a variety of pain management resources. The Mayday PainLink site is now an archived site—pages with many resources for improving pain management continue to be available to the public.