This capstone project aims at addressing the problem of pain in patients that are currently receiving post treatment care after undergoing cancer treatment. The two proposed areas which will be used in addressing this issue are the application of massage therapy in comparison to the use traditional analgesics Caraceni et al., 2012). The objective of this process will be determining the most effective method of alleviating the pain in this group of patients. As such the main elements in this intervention will be in the form of a PICOT question broken down as below.
P- The population to whom the intervention is targeted is the post treatment cancer patients. Such individuals are usually under intense pain which in most cases is brought about by the cancer effects spreading to other parts and tissues. As cancer tumor growths progresses, pressure is usually subjected to bones, nerves and organs which results in pain to the patient.
I - the proposed intervention is the application of massage therapy in addressing the pain. The application of this technique is essential in ensuring that the patient receives holistic relief. Massaging involves stroking or rubbing the painful body parts as a way of manipulating body muscles to ease the pain that one is currently having (Falkensteiner et al., 2011). Massaging has got an additional advantage of improving the quality of life of a patient.
C - The intervention will be compared to the use traditional analgesics. This pain relief model employs the use of medication such as opioids and tricyclic antidepressant agents which assist in alleviating the pain which the patient may be facing (Caraceni et al., 2012).
O- The expected outcome from the two interventions is relieving pain from these patients.
T - The required timelines could be long since post cancer treatment process takes a long time.
In patients ailing from cancer (P), is massage therapy (I) more effective in relieving pain (O) compared to the use of traditional analgesics (C) in post cancer treatment (T)?
References
Caraceni, A., Hanks, G., Kaasa, S., Bennett, M. I., Brunelli, C., Cherny, N., & Haugen, D. F. (2012). Use of opioid analgesics in the treatment of cancer pain: evidence-based recommendations from the EAPC. The lancet oncology,13(2), e58-e68.
Falkensteiner, M., Mantovan, F., Müller, I., & Them, C. (2011). The use of massage therapy for reducing pain, anxiety, and depression in oncological palliative care patients: a narrative review of the literature. ISRN nursing, 2011.
