UICC World Cancer Congress 2006

Objective:Other than death, cancer patients' greatest fear is pain. Patients' experiences with pain vary by their diagnosis and stage of the illness. HealthMark Multimedia used formative evaluation methods of interviews, Internet surveys and prototype testing to guide the development of a multimedia product for on pain management for patients.

Methods: In general, patients and caregivers showed stoicism in the face of pain. They had a fair amount of knowledge about opioids and their side effects but knew less about medication delivery methods or approaches to mitigating side effects. Almost to a person they were concerned about the adverse effects of opioids. To manage pain better, they needed more information about pain management (67% patients, 78% caregivers) and a better understanding of pain management (61% patients, 53% caregivers). Patients wanted more information about side effects (54%), while caregivers needed better communication with the doctor (42%). Based on this information, HealthMark created an approach that provides patients with skills (e.g. communicating with their physicians and family caregivers), tools (e.g. describing and assessing pain, managing medications), and resources (e.g. how to find a pain specialist, managing hospitalizations).

Results: Cancer Pain: Your Guide to Relief™ explains pain and pain management in a way that is both simple and comprehensive. Reaching this goal required focused, accurate content development and listening carefully to what patients and their caregivers were telling us about their experience of pain. The results of the formative evaluation presented and the final CD-ROM will be demonstrated