PCAU implements the Pain-Free Hospital Initiative in partnership with the Ministry of Health with support from the American Cancer Society. Since 2016, 17 hospitals have been initiated into the program. The pain usually remains undertreated and some of the barriers to appropriately address pain management include subjectivity of pain, lack of knowledge, and attitudes of health workers. This is a hospital-wide quality improvement initiative to integrate pain treatment into health service delivery.
The goal of the Pain-Free Hospital Initiative is to integrate effective pain relief into hospital services through the following objectives:
- Motivate clinicians to evaluate and treat pain
- Supply appropriate drugs to treat pain.
- Engage hospital staff to create awareness about pain.
- Equip clinicians with skills and tools to effectively treat pain.
- Measure program impact by documenting patient pain scores.
