FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 17, 2004
Illinois Council
Develops Groundbreaking Pain
Management Program
for Long-Term Care Facilities
(CHICAGO) – Pain
management has become a front-burner
issue for long-term care facilities.
Recent studies have shown that nursing
home residents are seriously
under-assessed and under-treated for
pain. To help professionals better
manage resident pain, the Illinois
Council on Long Term Care has
developed a first-of-its-kind pain
management program that involves
the entire interdisciplinary team
in promoting comfort.
The Illinois Council’s
comprehensive pain management program
includes policies, procedures and
assessment forms that can be used to
put an entire program together from
start to finish. A key theme of
this initiative is that pain
management is not just a nursing
issue: all departments should be
involved in reducing resident
discomfort. Among this program’s
useful components:
-
Facility
policy on the management of
pain
-
Pain screening
form
-
Comprehensive
pain assessment tool
-
Pain flow
sheet and rating scales
-
Physician
communication worksheet
-
Interdisciplinary
care planning suggestions
-
Pharmacological
guidelines
-
Resident and
family satisfaction surveys
-
Quality
management tools
-
Staff training
modules for all departments,
including activities, dietary,
housekeeping and social
services
"The elderly
often do not report pain because they
feel it is a normal part of
aging," said Susan Duda Gardiner,
director of clinical services for the
Illinois Council on Long Term Care.
"We should treat pain in the
elderly and cognitively impaired just
as aggressively as we would treat it
in a younger population."
A distinguishing
factor of the Illinois Council’s
program is its emphasis on complementary
therapies and holistic care. The
program addresses a wide variety of
comfort measures and therapies
including positioning techniques,
hot/cold applications, exercise,
meditation, guided imagery, breathing
techniques, massage therapy, music
therapy and many other approaches. The
program also provides a list of
helpful websites and resources on pain
management and wellness.
Last month, the
Illinois Council released its pain
management program for the first time
at a series of extremely well received
state seminars. As a result, several
professionals now have now begun using
this tool in reducing resident pain
and promoting comfort.
The Illinois Council’s
program serves as a noteworthy
complement to the recent national
training initiatives of the federal
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS). While these federal
initiatives have focused mainly on the
theoretical underpinnings of pain
management, the Illinois Council’s
program effectively puts these
theories into practice to improve
resident outcomes and quality of life.
The Illinois Council
developed its initial pain management
program more than five years ago, even
before the federal government’s
initiative on pain management. Nursing
home professionals have field-tested
its protocols and procedures, with
modifications made based on their
suggestions.
"Chronic pain can
make the simplest tasks become
impossible and can lead to serious
issues with depression," said
Gardiner. "As nursing home
professionals, we have the ethical
responsibility of ensuring that all
residents are properly assessed and
treated for pain. We hope our new pain
management program will lead to real
progress in achieving this most
important goal."
# # #
The Illinois Council
on Long Term Care is a professional
health care association representing
220 nursing homes that employ 26,000
caregivers who serve more than 37,000
residents.
For information on
ordering the Illinois Council’s Pain
Management Program, visit www.nursinghome.org/pro/pub/pub016.html.
