Nursing home care providers were able to more smoothly adopt evidence-based pain management guidelines when they had the support of specially trained registered nurses, a study in Sweden has found.
An evidence-based model of therapy increased participant engagement in their own care, resulting in better mobility, decreased pain and improved quality of life, the lead therapist said.
At 12 months, fully 56% of participants who received phone-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy were still in remission from insomnia, compared with 26% of the control group.
Many chronic pain patients avoid physical activities that they are actually capable of doing, researchers have found. Changing thought patterns may help halt a downward pain spiral, they say.
A high-dose painkiller prescription often accompanies hospital patients upon discharge to a skilled nursing facility. The result is a complex medication management challenge for care providers, investigators say.
Treatment should start with low-risk, non-invasive strategies and slowly introduce pain medications, including opioids as needed, say Mayo Clinic geriatricians.
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Painkillers are frequently prescribed to manage chronic pain that disrupts sleep. But research on the use of opioid drugs for aiding sleep is limited and existing studies rarely consider side effects.
