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PubMed2000

Participant characteristics before and 4 months after attendance at a family caregiver cancer education program.

Recent trends in health care have placed an increased burden on cancer caregivers. In response, nurses and social workers have been taught to implement a 6-hour psychoeducation program for cancer caregivers that addresses symptom management, psychosocial support, and resource identification. Longitudinal data from a convenience sample of 187 cancer caregivers who attended the program are reported. Data were collected before attendance and 4 months later. Findings confirm the chronic and consuming nature of cancer caregiving. Data indicate that perception of burden did not worsen even when caregiving tasks increased in intensity. Caregiver perceptions of their own health actually improved over time. In addition, the number of caregivers who said they were well informed and confident about caregiving after program attendance increased over time. Further study that randomizes caregivers to intervention/control groups is needed to substantiate the role of similar programs in enhancing caregiver skills and minimizing caregiver burden over time.

Attitude to Health↗

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Implementing a multidisciplinary cancer pain education program.

Cancer pain remains problematic for many patients. No standardized guidelines were available for the management of cancer pain until the early 1990s. In addition, many healthcare personnel have not been trained adequately in pain management, despite the abundance of literature. As a result, clinicians often manage patient's pain poorly. This article provides an overview of the process of development and implementation of a 5-year multidisciplinary cancer pain education program, begun in 1989 by the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, School of Medicine, and Cancer Center. The program was comprised of a multidisciplinary cancer pain consultation panel that sought to educate healthcare personnel in community hospitals and nursing homes in southeastern Pennsylvania about cancer pain. This was accomplished by providing consultations for agencies with patients experiencing uncontrolled and/or progressive cancer pain. The panel also provided education through lectures, newsletters, and symposia. A total of 1949 healthcare personnel attended 92 consultations, lectures, and symposia during the 5 years that the program has operated. With the linkage approach to innovation diffusion framework used in this consultation program, and the implementation of the guidelines now available, many healthcare personnel may be able to increase their skills and manage pain more effectively, thus reducing and/or eliminating needless suffering for patients. Developing role models in the area of pain management at community hospitals may be the most effective means of incorporating pain control guidelines and fostering innovation.

Diffusion of Innovation↗