Pain management should “take place within the context of a biopsychosocial approach where the role of the clinician is to assist the patient in becoming an active participant in their own healthcare” (Lynch, 2011, p. 91). Pain management strategies available today are diverse and include pharmacological, physiological, and behavioral measures. They are determined after a comprehensive assessment of the client is completed. This assessment is the most essential step in determining pain interventions.
The pain management plan of care may include traditional medical approaches, as well as nontraditional, cultural, or religious variables, which may be identified either by the healthcare provider, client, or caregiver. Including both traditional and integrative interventions for optimal pain relief, rather than taking an all-or-none approach, is cost effective, provides a wide range of relief options, and respects the client’s social, ethnic, and cultural background. The effective management of pain is a joint effort where the client is intimately involved in managing his or her own pain (Lynch, 2011).
Because pain management is a complex process, one single intervention rarely provides complete relief for the client. Rather, it is more effective to consider multiple approaches to pain management based on a careful pain assessment as well as comprehensive medical and sociocultural review. Research is continually uncovering new pain management strategies as well as innovative and unique ways to utilize more traditional pain-relief methods. The best pain relief is obtained when healthcare providers keep abreast of the research, utilize this knowledge as they deliver care, and work in collaboration with the client to develop an effective pain management plan.