Managing Cancer Pain

Cancer patients should never accept relentless pain as their new normal! All pain can be treated, and even if not totally alleviated, it can be minimized with a comprehensive pain management plan administered by a top-notch caregiving team.

A consistent high level of care is needed for a pain management plan to be effective. Home health and hospice teams provide just that. Home care nurses are trained to recognize tolerance changes that occur as cancer progresses. It can be hard for patients to describe their pain, but It’s important that they convey as much about it as possible. Pain is easier to treat at the onset, and staying in front of it is the key to controlling it.

Patients should participate in their pain management plan by documenting their pain:

• Where is the pain?

• Is the pain worse during the day or at night?

• Rate the severity of the pain, on a scale from 1 to 10 where 10 is the worst.

• How does the pain feel: sharp, shooting, achy, burning, throbbing?

• What makes it feel better: ice, heat, exercise?

• What makes it feel worse: lying, standing, walking?

• Does the medicine help the pain?

• How long before you feel any relief after taking the medicine?

Cancer pain can be the result of the cancer itself or of any number of treatments. It can range from dull to sharp, and intermittent to constant. While the severity of cancer pain can vary widely, the frequency of home health visits helps nurses identify unreported symptoms and spot the onset of new site pain before it becomes intense.

A cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming, and educating patients about their disease and treatment options can be challenging, especially when they are still processing the news. Help your referral partners explain pain management and palliative care services to their new patients. Newly diagnosed patients who are informed about palliative care have an easier time embracing it as their disease progresses.

Always keep cancer care at the top of your marketing strategy but especially during September, National Pain Awareness Month. Highlight the benefits of in-home care for cancer patients with limited mobility, diminished immune systems, and sickness caused by treatments.

Visit TAGwebstore.com for home health and hospice patient education brochures and flyers, as well as referral building tools like our popular Guidelines for Hospice Admission Flip Chart.

Resources: cancer.org, cancernetwork.com

August Digest: Plan your health observance marketing now

High cholesterol is a problem that plagues millions of Americans. In fact, about 71 million American adults (almost 34 percent!) have high LDL or “bad” cholesterol, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This puts them at about twice the risk of heart disease as people with lower levels of the substance, and only about 1 in 3 adults with high LDL cholesterol has the condition under control. Do your part to increase awareness of this condition during September’s National Cholesterol Education Month.
• Host a free class for seniors on heart health or diet and nutrition. Find a ready-made class at www.tagwebstore.com/healthmatters-education-series.php.
• Visit with local internists, cardiologists and family practice physicians and ask to leave informational brochures about heart disease, stroke or diabetes at their checkout desk. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/disease-information-brochures.php.
• Meet with cardiologists and offer them the use of a helpful tool to help their clients keep track of their health while also reminding them of your referral information. Scorecard logs allow patients to record information such as medications taken, doctor’s appointments, record of vitals, surgeries and procedures, cholesterol check, and general symptoms. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/patient-scorecard-logs.php.

Alzheimer’s disease affects the lives of more than 5 million Americans and it is the nation’s fifth leading cause of death among adults age 65 or older. September is World Alzheimer’s Month and September 21 is World Alzheimer’s Day. Treat these observances as opportunities to educate your community about this disease and how your agency can help.
• Mental engagement can help keep aging minds sharp and stave off mental decline. Distribute puzzle books personalized with your agency’s name and contact information to visitors of your local senior centers. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/puzzlebook.php.
• Place informative brochures about Alzheimer’s disease and how your agency can help in the waiting rooms of your community’s geriatricians. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/disease-information-brochures.php.
• Demonstrate to referral sources that your services include a concrete plan to help their patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Patient education guides not only empower patients and their families to take an active role in the patient’s care, but help improve compliance and outcomes. Get the patient education guide for Alzheimer’s disease at www.tagwebstore.com/patient-education-guides.php.

September is National Pain Awareness Month. According to the American Pain Foundation, about 50 million Americans suffer from persistent pain each year. What’s more, about one in three Americans loses 20 hours of sleep or more every month due to pain. Those in pain don’t suffer alone; their family members suffer, too. Commit to observing Pain Awareness Month by educating your community and helping them find ways to cope with the condition.
• Hospice agencies can distribute Pain and Symptom Logs to patients to help educate them and their caregivers about the importance of pain and symptom tracking. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/painsymptomlog.php.
• Ask your area pharmacists whether you can leave brochures at their counters about pain management and how your agency can help. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/brochure.php.
• Give patients who suffer from pain a durable Zone Flyer that clearly shows them what’s normal, what merits a call to your agency and what warrants a call to 911. Show your referral sources that you are using this handy tool to improve patient education and outcomes. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/zone-flyer.php.
• Leave stacks of flyers about pain management, chronic pain or arthritis in the waiting rooms of local rheumatologists, internists and family practice physicians. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/health-care-flyers.php.

Plan for September: Living better through education

September is National Pain Awareness Month. According to the American Pain Foundation, about 50 million Americans suffer from persistent pain each year. What’s more, about one in three Americans lose 20 hours of sleep or more every month due to pain. Those in pain don’t suffer alone — their family members suffer, too. Commit to observing Pain Awareness Month by educating your community and helping them find ways to cope with the condition.

• Hospice agencies can distribute Pain and Symptom Logs to patients to help educate them and their caregivers about the importance of pain and symptom tracking. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/painsymptomlog.php.
• Ask your area pharmacists whether you can leave brochures at their counters about pain management and how your agency can help. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/brochure.php.
• Give patients who suffer from pain a durable Zone Flyer that clearly shows them what’s normal, what merits a call to your agency and what warrants a call to 911. Show your referral sources that you are using this handy tool to improve patient education and outcomes. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/zone-flyer.php.
• Leave stacks of flyers about pain management, chronic pain or arthritis in the waiting rooms of local rheumatologists, internists and family practice physicians. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/health-care-flyers.php.

High cholesterol is a problem that plagues millions of Americans. In fact, about 71 million American adults (almost 34 percent!) have high LDL or “bad” cholesterol, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This puts them at about twice the risk of heart disease as people with lower levels of the substance, and only about 1 in 3 adults with high LDL cholesterol has the condition under control. Do your part to increase awareness of this condition during September’s National Cholesterol Education Month.

• Host a free class for seniors on heart health or diet and nutrition. Find a ready-made class at www.tagwebstore.com/healthmatters-education-series.php.
• Visit with local internists, cardiologists and family practice physicians and ask to leave informational brochures about heart disease, stroke or diabetes at their checkout desk. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/brochure.php.
• Visit your area hospitals over the weekend and stock their waiting rooms (not just the main waiting room) with rack cards educating about heart disease, weight loss, and stroke — and how your agency can help. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/rack-cards.php.

National Rehabilitation Awareness Week is Sept. 15-21. Show your support for the rehabilitation professionals at your agency and in your community by taking part in this celebration sponsored by the National Rehabilitation Awareness Foundation.

• Call on orthopedic surgeons and leave behind tablet mousepads that educate about your agency’s physical therapy services. The mousepads include a 25-sheet tear-off pad for note taking. Find the mousepads at www.tagwebstore.com/mousepads.php.
• Educate your community about the benefits of physical and occupational therapy. Offer to stop in and give a short five-minute presentation about the benefits of physical and occupational therapy during this month’s meetings of your local rotary clubs, Lions Clubs, elected officials and other meetings that draw a large number of senior attendees. Be sure to leave behind stacks of physical and occupational therapy flyers. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/health-care-flyers.php.
• Visit the offices of local neurologists and leave behind home care speech therapy brochures. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/speech-therapy-brochure.php.