Pain relief with touch of hand
Nobody wants to live in pain – and aged care provider Hall & Prior knows the importance of keeping its residents as comfortable and pain-free as possible. Hall & Prior’s pain management program recently received a Better Practice Award from the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency.
Nobody wants to live in pain – and aged care provider Hall & Prior knows the importance of keeping its residents as comfortable and pain-free as possible.
Hall & Prior’s pain management program recently received a Better Practice Award from the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency. The program uses both traditional and non-traditional therapies, including a Japanese styled treatment called Tapping Touch.
Pictured is one of the Sirius Cove residents, Hugh MacCallum, receiving some ‘Tapping Touch Therapy from facility staff member, Denise Beverly-Smith.
The program was piloted at two of Hall & Prior’s aged care homes, Sirius Cove in Mosman and Caroline Chisholm in Lane Cove, where pain ratings reportedly improved for more than half of the residents.
Elizabeth Lenton of Hall & Prior told DPS News the pain management program thinks “outside of the box”, giving staff a “deeper understanding about pain management” and techniques to meet the needs of residents.
Combining traditional and non-traditional pain management treatments, Ms Lenton says the techniques used are quite “unusual” – particularly the ‘tapping touch’ treatment which involves “light rhythmic tapping on a person’s body as music is played”. The treatment is reportedly being used on Japanese Tsunami victims.
“Mostly pain management looks at things from a clinical side, such as medication and hot packs and often forget the importance of factors like leisure and lifestyle activities have on older people.”
“Each resident has an individual program to meet their needs, and it has seen great benefits in residents with arthritic pain. Pain levels and agitation have dramatically reduced and many residents can sleep well at night,” she adds.
Ms Lenton says the aim of program is ultimately to “improve the quality of life” among residents.
“Anything that promotes quality of life and can be done affordably is important; and it’s very important to share what you learn so other people can benefit,” she says.
Ms Lenton will share and present information on Hall & Prior’s pain management program at a conference in Tasmania next month.
