Innovations in End-of-Life Care
an international journal of leaders in end-of-life care
Vol. 1, No. 3, 1999
Resources and Tools
The following is a targeted and short list of resources and tools specifically focused on improving pain and symptom management for patients near the end of life.
I. Tools from Stuart and Anna Du Pen from The Cancer Pain Algorithm:
- Some sample decision tree charts:
- 1. Global Cancer Pain Algorithm
- 2. Pain Assessment: Routine
- 3. Constipation
- 4. Oversedation
- 5. Reassessment
- 6. Flow Chart
- 7. Progress Note
PainConsult.com is the Du Pens’ website. This site has information for both patients and providers. We include to two particularly relevant pages here:
1. A Pain Assessment Tool for patients can be accessed from this page http://www.painconsult.com/MainPages/PatientLearning/
UnderstandingPain/Presentations/PainAssessmentPres.html. This self-assessment handout tracks pain location, pain intensity, pain character, pain patterns, changes in pain and pain interference. - 1. Global Cancer Pain Algorithm
II. NEW August 1999 update
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) is now promulgating new standards on pain assessment and management. Compliance won't be measured right away, but visit their website to see the standards: http://www.jcaho.org/standards_frm.html
III. Other Relevant Tools
| Source Organization & Home Page | Specific Document or Tool |
| Cancer Pain Education Resource http://www.caper.tufts.edu/ |
Taking Control of Your Pain http://www.caper.tufts.edu/cgi/content/2C/0 Each multilingual booklet has the English version on the left-hand page, and the other language on the facing page. Vietnamese, Haitian Creole, Russian, Latin American Spanish, Chinese, French, Italian and Portuguese as well as English versions are available. The American Cancer Society distributes these booklets for free. These booklets were developed by the Boston Cancer Pain Education Program and funded by the American Cancer Society and National Cancer Institute in an effort to develop culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate resources for patients. More information including how to order is available at this webpage. |
IV. Web Resources
There are many websites for health care professionals devoted to pain management and the relief of pain. We list a few key resources here, and recommend that you go to the PainLink annotated list of links for an extensive set of web-based pain resources that are not limited to end-of-life care.
| Source Organization & Home Page | Specific Document or Tool |
| American Pain Society (APS) http://www.ampainsoc.org |
TALARIA Website for Cancer Pain Management:
APS will update this site found at http://www.statsci.com/talaria/talariahome.html.
A hypermedia presentation of the AHCPR Clinical Practice Guideline: Management of Cancer Pain is available at this site. Other resources include the most recent information on public policy updates, reference tools, and advances in pain management. |
| Association Internationale Ensemble contre la douleur http://www.sans-douleur.ch/ Ensemble contre la douleur is a francophone nonprofit organization founded in 1997 in Geneva, Switzerland by leaders in pain management. |
The site has updates from participating hospitals in the Vers un hopital sans douleur (Toward a Pain Free Hospital) campaign. This campaign is not limited to end-of-life pain, but is a systematic effort to improve the treatment of pain for all patients. Participating institutions are located in France, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Canada and the United States. A second major campaign sponsored by Ensemble contre la douleur is Vivre avec le cancer sans douleur (Living with Cancer, without Pain). Additional information in French about both campaigns is accessible from the homepage. The site has a variety of resources including a bibliography with both French and English entries, a resource page providing links to French and English pain related
websites at http://www.sans-douleur.ch/ai_fress.htm, and a French speaking list serve sans-douleur accessible from the homepage. |
| International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) http://www.halcyon.com/iasp/ |
Pain: Clinical Updates the IASP newsletter, is available on the web at http://www.halcyon.com/iasp/PCUOpen.html. The IASP site also offers extensive links to other resources for dealing with pain at: http://www.halcyon.com/iasp/ressopen.html. |
| PainLink http://www.edc.org/PainLink/ |
An extensive list of annotated links to pain related websites can be found at http://www.edc.org/PainLink/plweb.html. PainLink is a virtual community of institutions and practitioners committed to improving their pain management practices developed by staff at the Center for Applied Ethics and Professional Practice at EDC in Newton, MA and funded by the Mayday Fund. The site has both public and members only sections. Members have access to a variety of resources including technical assistance, e-mail discussions, on-line events and the PainLink Clinician Survey. |
| The American Alliance of Cancer Pain Initiatives http://www.aacpi.org/ |
New: A Cancer Pain E-mail List Serve hosted by the AACPI Resource Center. To learn more about the list serve visit http://www.wisc.edu/trc/list.htm.
The AACPI Resource Center, at http://www.wisc.edu/trc contains information about upcoming seminar events, legislative and public policy resources and an online video library. |
This archived issue:
Archive Issue Home |
Editorial |
Featured Innovation |
International Perspectives |
Read More |
Resources & Tools |
On-line Discussion
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Innovations Home | Archives | Useful Tools Trouble using our site? Contact Stacy A. Piszcz or e-mail intleoljournal@edc.org |
