91社区

Cancer Pain Program

91社区

听As a tertiary level teaching hospital, the 91社区 Health Centre (MUHC) delivers care to over 1500 newly 听diagnosed cancer patients each year. Most people diagnosed with cancer will experience pain as a result of their disease 听or its treatment. While the majority of cancer 听pain problems can be effectively treated using guidelines provided by the 听World Health Organization, 10-20% of them, the highly complex cases, will show failure to respond to conventional 听management.
Description of the Program
听In keeping with the mandate of the MUHC Cancer Care Mission to address the needs of this highly complex population, 听the Supportive 听and Palliative Care Service and the Alan Edwards Pain Management Unit (AEPMU) partnered to create a 听comprehensive Cancer Pain 听Program launched in March 2011. The MUHC Cancer Pain Program strives to meet the needs of patients with cancer pain by providing a 听single point of entry to services within an interdisciplinary clinic.

Among the goals of our Program we aim to 1) offer early palliative care management for cancer pain patients throughout their disease, 2) manage pain and other cancer-related symptoms in those particular cases where the WHO ladder approach has failed and 3) offer a combined conventional medical management with non-pharmacological approach which has proven to be effective to manage challenging cases by providing better pain relief, less opioid consumption, less drug toxicity and improved survival.

The Cancer Pain team sees patients three half days per week, and an average of 6-8 patients are seen during those clinic hours. The core team is composed of palliative care physicians, anaesthesiologists, a radiation oncologist, and a nurse clinician. Under the Allied Health Service umbrella, a designated social worker, physiotherapist, and occupational therapist as well as a Psychosocial Oncology Program offer additional support upon referral.



This program is proudly supported by the Louise and Alan Edwards Foundation


Dr. Jordi Perez, Director听of MUHC Cancer Pain Program

The Cancer Pain Program team:

Nurses

听Christelle R茅my (B.Sc.N.)
Nurse clinician in oncology who works full time for the Ambulatory Cancer Pain Program. Christelle is responsible for the coordination of the clinic and the triage of all referrals. She acts as resource person for the patients, their family members and their caregivers with regards to pain treatment, symptoms management and teaching.A contact person that is easily accessible by phone for them during the week. Therefore, is able to provide close monitoring of the patient.听Assures continuity and coordination of care between the pain program and allied health services.听Based at the supportive care clinics of MUHC-Cedar Cancer Center.

Krista Brecht

Nathalie Aubin听(N, MSc), CHPCN(C). Nathalie works as an Advanced Practice Nurse at the 91社区 Health Centre. She is an Adjunct Faculty, Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at 91社区 and is a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Palliative Care who has been involved with clinical practice, nursing education, consultation and research.

Interventional Pain Physicians

Jordi Perez听(Anesthesiology)

(Interventional Radiology)

Radiation Oncologist

Palliative Care Physicians

Hitesh Bhanabhai

Genevi猫ve Chaput

Secretarial support

Vivianne Korah

Allied Health Services

Physiotherapy:听Marta Jelowicki (BSc, Pt) obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Therapy from 91社区. Her interest in working in the Cancer Nutrition-Rehabilitation Program stems from her work with hematology and bone marrow transplant patients for the last 3 years. She has taken courses in cancer rehabilitation in order to best address the needs of this patient group. The ultimate goal of her interventions is to optimize patient鈥檚 mobility and physical functioning and improve quality of life. She is based at the MUHC-Royal Victoria Hospital clinic site.

Occupational Therapy: Rabiaa Laroui, (OT).听Individuals with cancer may experience varying activity limitations. An occupational therapist can evaluate the impact of physical and cognitive changes such as cancer-related fatigue, fluctuating energy levels, cancer pain, difficulty sleeping and chemo 鈥渇og鈥, on activity participation in order to recommend modifications and strategies to maintain or increase activity.听The role of a n occupational therapist is to enable individuals to optimize their level of functioning in relevant meaningful activities. This may include activities of daily living, work, leisure or social pursuits.In the of cancer pain patients, interventions may include correcting posture, teaching joint protection techniques as well as pain management strategies, teaching energy conservation and restoration techniques, helping with neuropathies management and providing technical aids in order to help with pain and activity performance. An occupational therapist also provides support and refers patient to other specialties if there is a need to.

Social Work

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