Supported self-management – what are we managing, actually?

One of the words that has been in my vocabulary for decades is ‘management.’ No, I don’t mean the proliferative middle management layer infesting healthcare for about as long as I’ve been working in health. I mean ‘pain management’ or ‘supported self-management.’ As ever, what pops up for me is about what, exactly, is being managed? Is it pain? Well – not exactly. After all, pain does what it does, and if we focus on pain reduction alone just look where that gets us (Ballantyne & Sullivan, 2015; Cutler & Glaeser, 2021). And quickly, lest anyone think I’m anti-medication and don’t know about the underhand dealings of the Sackler family – in the right place, at the right time, and with the right checks and balances, medication for pain can be a really good thing. It’s just that focusing on pain reduction without concurrently looking at living, well that IS a problem. The thing is that the relationship between pain intensity and functional limitations and even quality of life is complex, while the only time we’ll never feel pain is… when we’re six feet under. If it’s not pain, then what is this thing called pain management? Mostly it’s a collection of actions that individuals need to do to engage in what matters to them, to reduce the impact pain has on daily life, and to feel a little like themselves. There are problems with the language around pain self...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - Category: Anesthesiology Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs