scholarly journals A survey of cancer care institutions in Nepal to inform design of a pain management mobile application

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia LeBaron ◽  
Abish Adhikari ◽  
Rachel Bennett ◽  
Sandhya Chapagain Acharya ◽  
Manita Dhakal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Pain Management ◽  
Cancer Pain ◽  
Cancer Care ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Smart Phone ◽  
Data Access ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Cancer Pain Management

Abstract Background One way to improve the delivery of oncology palliative care in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) is to leverage mobile technology to support healthcare providers in implementing pain management guidelines (PMG). However, PMG are often developed in higher-resourced settings and may not be appropriate for the resource and cultural context of LMICs. Objectives This research represents a collaboration between the University of Virginia and the Nepalese Association of Palliative Care (NAPCare) to design a mobile health application (‘app’) to scale-up implementation of existing locally developed PMG. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey of clinicians within Nepal to inform design of the app. Questions focused on knowledge, beliefs, and confidence in managing cancer pain; barriers to cancer pain management; awareness and use of the NAPCare PMG; barriers to smart phone use and desired features of a mobile app. Findings Surveys were completed by 97 palliative care and/or oncology healthcare providers from four diverse cancer care institutions in Nepal. 49.5% (n = 48) had training in palliative care/cancer pain management and the majority (63.9%, n = 62) reported high confidence levels (scores of 8 or higher/10) in managing cancer pain. Highest ranked barriers to cancer pain management included those at the country/cultural level, such as nursing and medical school curricula lacking adequate content about palliative care and pain management, and patients who live in rural areas experiencing difficulty accessing healthcare services (overall mean = 6.36/10). Most nurses and physicians use an Android Smart Phone (82%, n = 74), had heard of the NAPCare PMG (96%, n = 88), and reported frequent use of apps to provide clinical care (mean = 6.38/10, n = 92). Key barriers to smart phone use differed by discipline, with nurses reporting greater concerns related to cost of data access (70%, n = 45) and being prohibited from using a mobile phone at work (61%; n = 39). Conclusions Smart phone apps can help implement PMG and support healthcare providers in managing cancer pain in Nepal and similar settings. However, such tools must be designed to be culturally and contextually congruent and address perceived barriers to pain management and app use.

Informing Design of a Smart Phone Mobile Application to Improve Cancer Pain Management: A Survey of Cancer Care Institutions in Nepal (RP510)

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 234-235
Author(s):  
Virginia LeBaron ◽  
Abish Adhikari ◽  
Sandhya Chapagain Acharya ◽  
Catherine Elmore ◽  
Ramila Dangol ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pain Management ◽  
Cancer Pain ◽  
Cancer Care ◽  
Mobile Application ◽  
Smart Phone ◽  
Cancer Pain Management

Pain in Europe

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Eccleston ◽  
Bart Morlion ◽  
Christopher Wells
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Pain ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
Pain Management ◽  
Cancer Pain ◽  
Final Section ◽  
International Association ◽  
Main Section ◽  
Cancer Pain Management ◽  
The World

There are over 740 million people living in the 37 countries who are members of the European Pain Federation of chapters of the International Association for the Study of Pain. The editors introduce the field of pain management, in particular the work of over 20,000 people in acute (largely injury related) pain, chronic pain including cancer pain management, and palliative care. We then describe how the book European Pain Management is structured. There are three sections: an introduction to the world of pain and the epidemiology of pain. The main section, which is 37 chapters long, reports describing the practice of pain management in each country, the challenges and innovations. And a final section looks at specific issues that cut across all nations, and ends with a concluding analysis of the statue of European Pain Management.

Cancer pain management in Mexico

2019 ◽  
pp. bmjspcare-2019-001871
Author(s):  
Sarah Barry Lincoln ◽  
Enrique Soto-Perez-de-Celis ◽  
Yanin Chavarri-Guerra ◽  
Alfredo Covarrubias-Gomez ◽  
Mariana Navarro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Pain Management ◽  
Cancer Pain ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Pain Control ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Cancer Pain Management ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Care Training

BackgroundPain control is an essential component of high-quality palliative care. Unfortunately, many low-income and middle-income countries lack an appropriate infrastructure to provide palliative care and suffer from a severe lack of access to opioid analgesics to alleviate pain from various conditions such as cancer.ObjectivesWe aimed to review the history and current status of cancer pain management in Mexico, a middle-income Latin American country. Our objective was to identify existing barriers to proper, effective opioid use, as well as provide practical recommendations for improvement.MethodsUsing a search of EBSCOhost database, PubMed and Google, we found official documents and peer-reviewed articles related to health legislation, opioid consumption, palliative care infrastructure and palliative care training in Mexico.ResultsDespite advances in palliative care and access to opioids in Mexico, there are still several barriers that undermine effective pain management, showing a major gap between policy and practice. Although Mexican legislation and guidelines include adequate palliative care and pain control as a right for all patients with cancer, the lack of adequate infrastructure and trained personnel severely hampers the implementation of these policies. Additionally, there are important barriers to prescribing opioids, many of which are related to attempts at reducing the consumption of recreational drugs.ConclusionsAlthough Mexico has made significant improvements in pain control and palliative care, much needs to be done. Expansion of drug availability, improvement of palliative care training, and constant oversight of regulations and guidelines will help to strengthen Mexico’s palliative care services.

Impact of parenteral opioid shortage on opioid prescriptions among patients seen by the palliative care team of a comprehensive cancer center.

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (34_suppl) ◽  
pp. 201-201
Author(s):  
Ali Haider ◽  
Yu Qian ◽  
Zhanni Lu ◽  
Syed Mussadiq Ali Akbar Naqvi ◽  
Amy Zhuang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Pain Management ◽  
Cancer Pain ◽  
Comprehensive Cancer Center ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Cancer Type ◽  
Cancer Pain Management ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Impact

201 Background: Recent parenteral opioid shortage (POS) has the potential to impact cancer pain management in hospitalized patients. This study aims to compare changes in the opioid prescriptions by the inpatient palliative care (PC) team before and after the institution first reported the POS. Methods: We reviewed and compared the electronic health records of 386 consecutive eligible consultations seen by the inpatient PC team equally in one month before and after the announcement of POS on February 8, 2018. The eligibility criteria include (1) cancer diagnosis, (2) ≥18 years of age, (3) taking opioid medication at the time of consultation, and (4) having at least two consecutive visits with the PC team. Patient demographics, cancer type, opioid type, route, and dose defined as the morphine equivalent daily dose were assessed. Results: POS was associated with less use of parenteral opioids (patient controlled analgesia, and intravenous breakthrough) and more use of non-parenteral opioids (extended release, transdermal, and oral breakthrough) by the referring oncology teams, and PC team (P≤.001) (Table 1). At first PC follow-up, significantly less proportion of patients achieved better pain control after POS [119/193 (62%) versus 144/193 (75%) (P=.006)] However, at second PC follow-up, the proportion of pain improvement was similar in both cohorts. Conclusions: There is a significant change in opioid routes associated with POS. POS was associated with worse analgesia. More research is needed to better understand the impact of POS on cancer pain management.[Table: see text]

scholarly journals Independent Research on Cancer Pain Management in the Setting of Early Palliative Care: A Flywheel to Counteract General Opioid Misuse and Abuse

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (19) ◽  
pp. 7097
Author(s):  
Elena Bandieri ◽  
Leonardo Potenza ◽  
Fabio Efficace ◽  
Eduardo Bruera ◽  
Mario Luppi
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Pain Management ◽  
Cancer Pain ◽  
World Health ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Cancer Pain Management ◽  
Who Analgesic Ladder ◽  
Early Palliative Care ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Analgesic Ladder

The increased recognition of the high prevalence and important burden of cancer pain and the documentation of a large proportion of patients receiving inadequate analgesic treatment should have reinforced the need for evidence-based recommendations. The World health Organization (WHO) guidelines on cancer pain management—or palliative care—are traditionally based on a sequential, three-step, analgesic ladder according to pain intensity: nonopioids (paracetamol or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) to mild pain in step I; weak opioids (eg, codeine or tramadol) to mild-moderate pain in step II; and strong opioids to moderate-severe pain in step. III. Despite the widespread use of this ladder, unrelieved pain continues to be a substantial concern in one third of patients with either solid or hematologic malignancies. The sequential WHO analgesic ladder, and in particular, the usefulness of step II opioids have been questioned but there are no universally used guidelines for the treatment of pain in patients with advanced cancer and not all guideline recommendations are evidence-based. The American Society of Clinical Oncology and the European Society of Medical Oncology have recommended the implementation of early palliative care (EPC), which is a novel model of care, consisting of delivering dedicated palliative service concurrent with active treatment as early as possible in the cancer disease trajectory. Improvement in cancer pain management is one of the several important positive effects following EPC interventions. Independent well-designed research studies on pharmacological interventions on cancer pain, especially in the EPC setting are warranted and may contribute to spur research initiatives to investigate the poorly addressed issues of pain management in non cancer patients.

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