5 Reasons to Max Out on Twitter for PainWeek
/By Margaret Aranda, MD, Columnist
More than ever, you need to be on Twitter this week if you love to advocate for pain patients. That’s because PainWeek begins Tuesday, September 5th and runs through Saturday, September 9th at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas.
You won’t find many patients at PainWeek, but there are plenty of doctors. PainWeek is the nation’s largest annual conference for healthcare providers who practice pain management. Over 2,300 physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, psychologists, and social workers will attend seminars on topics ranging from analgesics of the future to opioid constipation to a debate on whether urine drug testing is necessary.
Why should you care about PainWeek and why should you be maxed out on Twitter?
Tweets to #PainWeek are going to get a lot of eyeballs, not only from PainWeek organizers, but doctors, pharmaceutical companies and the news media. It's a good opportunity to show them what pain sufferers are feeling and thinking.
Tweeting is also a great way for patients to spread information and awareness about chronic pain to new pairs of eyes. When you do that, it’s called an "impression.” When someone comments or replies to your Tweet, that's an "engagement.” And when you get a “Retweet” – also known as an #RT -- that's the biggest compliment a Twitterer can give to a fellow Twitterer.
Here are 5 ways pain patients can use Twitter:
1) Advocate: The more people see your Tweets, the more you empower people to step out and be bold for themselves and for others that are suffering in pain. Use uplifting images, music, or quotes interspersed with your Tweets to help get positive attention.
2) Prevent Suicides: The ultimate goal of an advocate is to prevent the most severe outcomes of unrelenting, persistent pain. Those would be patient suicide, spousal suicide, and physician homicide. If we can spread the word about these emerging problems, we can help others hang onto their lives until the nation finally recognizes what is happening in the pain community.
3) Use Hashtags: Worldwide patient advocacy can reign on Twitter. Try to use 6 to 8 hashtags per Tweet. In addition to #PainWeek, here are some great hashtags to use for the widest outreach:
#bedridden #broken #ButYouDontLookSick #chronic #chronicillness #chronicpain #ChronicPain #disabled #Disability #edRecovery #epatient #ehealth #HomicideDue2Pain #IAmNotANumber #invisibledisability #invisibleillness #livelife #MedEd #MedX #NoCure #opioids #opioidcrisis #pain #PainManagement #patients #PatientEngagement #PatientExperience #PatientsFirst #PatientsIncluded #PatientsLikeMe #patientsafety #PatientsUnitedForDEAReform #ptsafety #spoonie #Spoonies #SpoonieProblems #SpoonieSpeak #StoriesNotStigma #suicide #SuicideDue2Pain #SupportVeterans #Vets #Veterans
4) Grow: What if every one of us had 10,000 followers each? It's one thing to have something to say, and another thing to show it to as many pairs of eyes as possible. Twitter is very reciprocal, so follow everyone who follows you.
For the same reason, if someone Retweets you, try to Retweet back or at least “like” a few of their Tweets. That's Twitter's culture. It’s reciprocal.
5) Inspire and be inspired. We learn and grow every day. Sometimes we teach and sometimes we learn from our students. If you love to write or advocate for patients, consider starting a free blog where millions of authors go: Wordpress.com. This way, when you Tweet, it could be one of your own articles, and you can drive traffic to your own website by Tweeting your blog’s address.
#PainWeek is poised to be the most Tweeted pain meeting of the year, so join in on the fun!
"Be empowered to empower."
Dr. Margaret Aranda is a Stanford and Keck USC alumni in anesthesiology and critical care. She has dysautonomia and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) after a tragic car accident left her with traumatic brain injuries that changed her path in life to patient advocacy.
The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represents the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.
