How to transfer research into practice – more questions than answers
With a background in a health profession not known for its love of science, I suppose when I came across evidence based health care I felt a strong sense of relief. Here, at last, was a way to work out what to do when faced with the task of helping people with pain. I was … Read more
Can psychological management of fibromyalgia affect pain?
When I’m working with someone who has chronic pain, from the outset I’m pretty straight-up that the treatments I offer don’t directly affect pain intensity. It’s not my focus, and very often after the first session, I don’t even discuss pain – I’m more interested in what the person is doing! And for this focus, … Read more
Friday Fantastic!
After trying to come up with something suitably pithy or funny, I give up. The sun is shining and it’s way too nice to be indoors, so here’s parcour – with a twist! Don’t do this over the weekend, you WILL break things, not a good look. And you can be sure that Sheba-the-wonderdog will … Read more
I don’t know: three words we might not be saying enough
New Zealanders are reeling today after the deaths of 29 miners trapped in a coal mine on the rugged West Coast of New Zealand. We have watched this drama unfold over the past five days. We have seen media conferences and we have watched TV footage. And one of the more frustrating aspects for families … Read more
Developing a set-back plan in pain management
Without a doubt, anyone reading my blog will have tried at some point to change a habit. Maybe to stop drinking coffee (why?!), start doing more exercise, say no to new projects, eat more fibre – even when a decision to make a change is not done of a New Year’s Eve, chances are that … Read more
Mid-week LOL
A cutesy animal story for Wednesday. I am sorry about this, it couldn’t wait until Friday. Awwww! Cute animal story? Just read on… but first, my humble and most sincere apologies to any German readers. THE GERMAN TOURIST JUMPED IN AND SAVED THE DOG. UPON GETTING BACK UP ON THE BRIDGE HE CHECKED THE DOG … Read more
Flare-ups, breakthrough pain or set-backs: self managing exacerbations of pain
A couple of days ago I wrote about medication and managing flare-ups, and out of that post there was a bit of discussion about what exactly I meant by flare-up, and whether it might be better defined as break-through pain. I’ve found that there is not a lot of agreement in the literature – nor … Read more
Taking a closer look at health encounters for people with chronic pain
A theme of comments made by people I’ve seen clinically is that certain health care encounters they’ve had have not been especially helpful. Some people feel belittled, some patronised, some bamboozled, some dismissed – and yet in most surveys of health care satisfaction, the rating is pretty high (Jenkinson, Coulter, Bruster, Richards & Chandola, 2002). … Read more
TwitterFlitter
Improving care for people with long term conditions: 'at a glance' information sheets for healthcare professionals http://bit.ly/9Zo5lQ— ray kirk (@directorhsc) November 19, 2010
TwitterFlitter
Choosing a high-quality hospital: the role of nudges, scorecard design and information http://bit.ly/96gNbF— ray kirk (@directorhsc) November 19, 2010
