Building an institutional commitment to pain management in long-term care facilities.

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Healthcare Management
• Pain Management

Background:

• Pain management is a critical aspect of care in long-term care facilities.
• Historically, pain management has not been a consistent institutional priority in many facilities.
• Standardized approaches are needed to improve pain management practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the development, implementation, and findings of an inter-institutional study.
• To make pain management an institutional priority in Wisconsin long-term care facilities.
• To assess the impact of a structured educational program on pain management indicators.

Main Methods:

• An inter-institutional study involving 87 long-term care facilities across two training cohorts.
• Each facility formed a team responsible for care policies.
• Teams participated in four structured educational programs and developed an Action Plan based on 14 national practice indicators.

Main Results:

• At baseline, only 14% of facilities had over 51% of the pain management indicators in place.
• By the conclusion of the study, 74% of facilities achieved over 51% of the indicators.
• The educational project demonstrated success in implementing critical pain management indicators.

Conclusions:

• The educational intervention was effective in improving pain management practices in long-term care facilities.
• Making pain management an institutional priority through education leads to measurable improvements.
• This model can be replicated in other long-term care settings to enhance patient care.