Lecture 9: Pain Management: Chronicity and culture

Question 1

Va

Answer 1

Va refers to relationship (universal connections that we are all humans), harmony, communication, language (how you present yourself), distance, contention.
- Va is the basis of our identities
Soalaupule means sharing of power (discussion, consultation, conference; tell patients what you are doing!).

Question 2

Pain

Answer 2

Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.
Pain is discomfort, perception of a state/feeling/being. Perception can be changed!

Question 3

What are the 3x classifications of pain?

Answer 3

•Acute pain is pain after injury.
•Cancer pain is pain with cancer/metastasis.
•Chronic non-cancer pain is pain been more than three months!
These classifications are not discreet from each other (might overlap with each other)

Question 4

What fine balances need to be struck in the patient/doctor relationship?

Answer 4

It is about a fine balance between patient, doctor and context.
•Patient brings in culture, previous experiences, genetics, past trauma (physical and psychological)
•Context means environment around you, e.g. hospitals,
•Doctor brings in communication (respect and understand patient, placebo effect), biomedical knowledge (notice symptoms!). Know yourself!