IMPROVING PAIN MANAGEMENT IN LONG-TERM CARE

The environmental scan findings revealed many barriers to effective pain management in LTC, including those at the resident/family level (i.e., challenges in reporting pain, family concerns, need for individualized pain treatments); health care provider level (i.e., challenges in assessing pain, reluctance to use pain medications, lack of knowledge, lack of communication across care provider groups, lack of continuity of care); and system level (i.e., need to meet accreditation and compliance standards which are often process oriented as opposed to resident outcome-oriented, more support and resources needed for staff in changing practice, need for strong leadership to implement change).