Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Pain Awareness Month 2026: Understand, Advocate, Partner, Advance
September is Pain Awareness Month, an annual campaign dedicated to increasing understanding of pain, improving pain management, and raising awareness of the experiences of people living with pain. Established in 2001, the campaign brings together organisations around the world to promote education, research, advocacy, and better care for people affected by pain. Each year, the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) contributes a global perspective through evidence-based resources, research updates, educational opportunities, and voices from across the international pain community.
This year's IASP campaign is organised around four themes: Understand, Advocate, Partner, and Advance.
At Leeds Beckett University, we align with these themes in our own way.
We seek to Understand through our pain research, which aims to deepen knowledge of pain, its consequences, and approaches to pain management. Through the work of the Leeds Beckett Pain Research Team, we contribute to the evidence base that informs clinical practice, education, and policy.
We Advocate through public engagement events and involvement in outreach initiatives such as Flippin' Pain, Cycle Tours to support informed, constructive conversations about pain and wellbeing.
We partner through collaborations with researchers, clinicians, educators, and people with lived experience. This includes our academic partnership with Rethinking Pain, an independent platform that brings together diverse voices to explore the biological, psychological, social, cultural, and ethical dimensions of pain. Through dialogue, scholarship, and shared learning, it encourages fresh perspectives on some of the most challenging questions in pain care.
We Advance opportunities to strengthen knowledge exchange, support continuing professional development, and improve pain care through research-informed education, educational research, and collaboration across disciplines and regions. Our partnerships with academic institutions, healthcare organisations, industry, and the third sector help create opportunities to share knowledge and generate new ideas.
Pain Awareness Month reminds us that improving pain care requires understanding, advocacy, partnership, and progress. These principles continue to guide our work throughout the year. For more information and resources, visit the IASP Pain Awareness Month page.
Professor Mark Johnson
Mark Johnson is Professor of Pain and Analgesia. Mark is an international expert on the science of pain and its management and the world leader on transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). He has published over 300 peer reviewed articles.
