Healing touch for older adults with persistent pain.

Abstract

The purpose of this report was to provide an in-depth review of responses from older adults residing in long-term care facilities receiving Healing Touch (HT) for pain management. Persistent pain is common in this population and, while the mainstay for pain management is analgesics, HT may provide supportive therapy. Twenty older adults from 5 facilities in the southwestern United States participated in the study, with 12 receiving the active intervention of HT and 8 receiving the control of presence care. A convergent mixed-methods approach was used in this secondary report, using the providers' descriptions of 84 HT sessions and quantitative findings to provide an in-depth within-case analysis. Outcome measures included quantitative measures of pain, daily living, and quality of life, as well as qualitative descriptors of the HT sessions. The findings suggest that the experience is highly varied and on a continuum from no perceived or noticeable benefit to a decrease in pain and improvement in other physiological and psychosocial symptoms. Therefore, HT may be beneficial for some older adults within long-term care facilities as an adjunct for chronic pain.

• Authors: Diane Wind Wardell, Sheila A Decker, Joan C Engebretson
• Journal: Holistic nursing practice (Holist Nurs Pract) 2012 Jul-Aug Vol. 26 Issue 4 Pg. 194-202 ISSN: 1550-5138 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 22694864 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Analgesics

Topics

• Activities of Daily Living
• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Analgesics (therapeutic use)
• Chronic Pain (therapy)
• Female
• Humans
• Long-Term Care
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Pain Management
• Quality of Life
• Southwestern United States
• Therapeutic Touch