Pain Management, Its Barriers and Popularization

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Table of Contents

Description
Barriers
Improvements
References

Description

Pain management is one of the most important health services settings within the domain of primary care as it ensures the appropriate quality of the patient’s life. Pain management aims at delivering “effective pain relief for all patients” (Macintyre & Schug, 2014, p. 2). To achieve this goal, various strategies and tools are utilized since such aspects as physical, psychological, and emotional are taken into account. Thus, the pharmacological treatment is often accompanied by the provision of mental health services, as well as less conventional types of therapy such as massages and yoga (Gatchel, McGeary, McGeary, & Lippe, 2014). It has been acknowledged that the use of interprofessional teams is instrumental in inefficient pain management as the integrative approach is consistent with the peculiarities and needs of modern people.

It is necessary to note that pain management perfectly fits into the continuum of health services as pain is usually a part of people’s lives, especially if a person has some health issues. Pain also accompanies patients throughout their transition from one continuum to another. For instance, the person appears in the emergency care unit or inpatient care facility as one of the symptoms this individual has is pain. The majority of people tend to keep numerous symptoms unnoticed, but the pain is mainly the symptom that is rarely ignored (Gatchel et al., 2014). Clearly, healthcare professionals should treat the patient’s pain within a short period, which is often achieved through pharmacological treatment.

This continuum is also characterized by the use of some types of psychological treatment. One of the simplest and the most effective strategies is empathy and the development of proper relationships between the nurse and the patient. These practitioners provide psychological support to patients in pain. A funny story or an interesting conversation can help relieve the patient’s pain, at least, for some time.

The transition to another continuum of care is associated with the use of more varied strategies and tools. Thus, the patient in the long term care setting often receives diverse health services, including pain management. The use of interprofessional teams is becoming quite common for this health services continuum (Weeks, 2016). Different healthcare practitioners collaborate to develop a comprehensive and efficient pain management plan (Kaasalainen et al., 2016). One of the major benefits of this approach is its potential to address physical, psychological, and emotional aspects. Therefore, it is clear that pain management is an integral part of the health services continuum, as pain is an indispensable element of the patient’s experiences.

Barriers

Diverse Groups

One of the major barriers to effective pain management is associated with the concept of diverse agents. It is possible to consider the micro-level. When it comes to pain management, diverse agents are such stakeholders as different healthcare professionals, the patient, the caregiver (Eldredge et al., 2016). Ineffective communication is one of the most serious obstacles to the provision of high-quality healthcare services and a short healing process. Thus, when the patient is moving through different health services continuums, the communication channels may be disrupted as numerous people are involved. Many healthcare professionals lack the necessary communication skills, which has diverse effects on the delivery of services (Weeks, 2016). Although healthcare facilities have effective software and provide training concerning communication, healthcare practitioners still fail to collaborate effectively, especially when it comes to pain management. This is quite a typical feature in long-term care.

Besides, healthcare practitioners often have different views on pain management and tend to focus on a particular aspect (physical, psychological, or emotional). Pain management plan can be changed in accordance with the healthcare professionals’ perspectives. In other words, the healthcare professionals involved in the provision of health services often deliver care in a way they find appropriate in this or that situation. Pain management treatment may become rather fragmented, which makes it ineffective.

More so, patients’ relatives, as well as patients, often have different views on various clinical procedures, which may also affect pain management. For instance, cultural differences come into play, and patients refuse to take some medicine while others may try to tolerate pain as they believe that it is a type of punishment they have to endure (Macintyre & Schug, 2014). Clearly, healthcare practitioners should be able to explain the need and the benefits of pain management, which can be rather difficult due to the lack of ethnic diversity of the staff in some facilities.

Bias and Beliefs

The cultural aspect is another serious barrier to the development of efficient pain management. The negative effects of cultural bias can be explained with the help of the concept of co-evolution (Sturmberg, 2016). For instance, the US healthcare system is based on a set of cultural beliefs that have developed throughout the history of the country. Americans have been concerned about progress and the use of the scientific method, which enabled them to become one of the leading nations. Thus, the reliance on technology and science can be seen as good aspects of the system.

Nevertheless, these beliefs make people pay insufficient attention to such important aspects of health as emotional and social. Centuries ago, Europeans brought technology to the continent but did not learn to pay attention to the spiritual, emotional and social elements of health although Native Americans have focused on those aspects. In the 21^st century, western medicine starts employing various techniques used in other medical traditions. However, the resistance to the change is significant due to the bias and beliefs that have become an indispensable part of people’s perspective on health and health services. For instance, massage and yoga or herbal treatment are still regarded as ineffective. At that, effective pain management involves diverse techniques and methods that may seem non-conventional.

Interestingly, the focus on technology, progress and the scientific method has quite a complex effect. On the one hand, western people rely on drugs and various clinical procedures. People tend to believe that pharmacological treatment is the backbone of their treatment. For many, taking drugs is the only option as it is easier for them to treat symptoms taking some pills rather than change their lifestyle. On the other hand, many people tend to distrust the pharmacological treatment used in pain management. Macintyre and Schug (2014) note that patients are afraid of becoming addicted to some drugs, which makes them refuse to take painkillers. Patients are ready to tolerate pain (even great pain) as they think that painkillers negatively affect their immune system as well (Macintyre & Schug, 2014). Again, ineffective communication between healthcare professionals and patients contributes to the development of such beliefs. Macintyre and Schug (2014) also note that healthcare professionals’ beliefs concerning pain have a significant impact on pain management. For instance, some healthcare practitioners see pain as a natural and sometimes important symptom that helps in tracing the changes that occur in patients.

Improvements

It is possible to focus on the development and popularization of the integrative approach to address the barriers mentioned above. Notably, the creation of interprofessional teams can be seen as an illustration of the self-organization concept. Thus, healthcare practitioners involved in the delivery of certain health services started collaborating closely and unite into cross-functional or interprofessional groups. Individuals self-organized to address certain issues and achieve particular goals.

As to the benefits of the integrative approach, the use of interprofessional teams in pain management will be instrumental in handling issues associated with the concept of diverse agents. As has been mentioned above, the involvement of different professionals makes pain management ineffective as these professionals communicate ineffectively and have different perspectives concerning health and health services (Eldredge et al., 2016). However, interprofessional teams address these issues. First, communication within the team is easier to maintain. Various strategies and methods of communication in teams are available. Thus, regular meetings of the interprofessional group can help practitioners involved become an effective team. The use of the corresponding software and devices can help healthcare professionals remain updated irrespective of their shifts.

It is vital to make sure that the interprofessional teams will be diverse in terms of age, gender and ethnicity. These three aspects can help the team take into account as many peculiarities of a patient as possible. Clearly, different generations have specific views on pain and its management techniques. Therefore, members of the team should understand patients’ wants and fears as well as be able to explain the benefits of certain treatment. Likewise, members of the interprofessional teams should pertain to different ethnic groups to be aware of biases and beliefs related to health and health services. More so, this kind of diversity ensures the use of varied techniques and methods as practitioners will be able to contribute to a complex approach to pain management. Thus, efficient communication within interprofessional teams will inevitably lead to sharing knowledge and the development of effective strategies.

It is also important to note that the integrative approach is likely to become a norm in the nearest future. This process can be explained with the help of the concept of co-evolution (Sturmberg, 2016). The modern world is becoming highly globalized due to constant migration and development of technology. People of different backgrounds interact and affect each other’s beliefs. The eastern tradition is not seen as something exotic and totally unacceptable in the modern western world. On the contrary, many people are willing to try different approaches to health management. This is especially true when it comes to pain management. The healthcare system and the society are evolving affecting each other. The attitude towards traditional medicine and alternative approaches is changing in the US society. Importantly, diversity is also regarded as a norm and the indispensable element of any aspect of life. The interprofessional team is the illustration of such emerging beliefs. Therefore, it is clear that the integrative approach is not an innovation unrelated to the real world but the necessity. Interprofessional teams will soon become common, which will contribute to the development of strategies related to pain management.

References

Eldredge, L.K.B., Markham, C.M., Ruiter, R.A.C., Fernandez, M.E., Kok, G., & Parcel, G.S. (2016). Planning health promotion programs: An intervention mapping approach. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Gatchel, R.J., McGeary, D.D., McGeary, C.A., & Lippe, B. (2014). Interdisciplinary chronic pain management: Past, Present, and Future. American Psychologist, 69(2), 119-130.

Kaasalainen, S., Wickson-Griffiths, A., Akhtar-Danesh, N., Brazil, K., Donald, F., Martin-Misener, R.,…Dolovich, L. (2016). The effectiveness of a nurse practitioner-led pain management team in long-term care: A mixed methods study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 62, 156-167.

Macintyre, P., & Schug, S. (2014). Acute pain management: A practical guide. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Sturmberg, J.P. (2016). “Returning to holism”: An imperative for the twenty-first century. In J.P. Sturmberg (Ed.), The value of systems and complexity sciences for healthcare (pp. 3-21). New York, NY: Springer.

Weeks, J. (2016). Chronicle of health creation: Are integrative health and medicine part of the national pain strategy?The Huffington Post. Web.

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