Pain and symptoms related to terminal illness continue to be undertreated today . A recent Health,
United States report suggests that approximately half of those surveyed over the age of 45 with pain had
experienced that pain for more than one year . Other data additionally supports the need for improved
pain care in the cancer treatment and post-operative care settings . Even within hospice care settings,
undertreated pain appears to still be of concern . Despite numerous advances in our understanding of the
diagnosis and treatment of pain and terminal symptoms, we continue to see evidence of resource underuse,
disparities in care, and unnecessary barriers created by health professionals . These barriers often times
stem from a lack of understanding, negative stigmatization, and inappropriate patient stereotyping .
In recent years we have seen valiant efforts to improve the education and understanding of pain and
palliative care (PPC) by physicians (Education on Palliative and End of Life Care), nurses (End of Life
Nursing Education Consortium), and social workers (Advocating for Clinical Excellence Project) in an
effort to improving overall quality of care for these patients . In 2003, the National Pain and Palliative Care
Summit hosted by The Ohio State University, convened health professionals from all stakeholder disciplines
to attempt to identify opportunities and barriers to quality pain and symptom care as related to each of the
professions . A group of pharmacists at this particular meeting identified a pharmacy-specific summit as the
key objective in moving this charge forward and reaching consensus on recommendations for advancing the
profession of pharmacy in its care for patients with pain and symptom management needs