Join Joyce McSwan in discussing One Thing she wants people challenged by pain to know. Is anyone out there? Explore the current state of pain science research and clinical practice in this straight-to-the-point interview with Joyce.
About Joyce McSwan
Joyce McSwan is a multi-award winning clinical consultant pharmacist and educator within the field of pain management. She is the current President of the Australian Pain Society. Find out more about Joyce here.
Transcript
JOYCE: I think the biggest, most important thing is that they’re not alone. Pain is incredibly isolating and with all the incredible medicines we have these days with all the incredible interventions that we could possibly access and give them, really the human touch is still incredibly important. So I think that key message that you are not alone is super important from the clinician to deliver at possibly every interaction if they can, every touch point. It just is the message that’s not said enough. In this day and age, we get very focused on obviously, you know, what we are there to do and our clinical expertise. No doubt. But from the other side of the receiver’s site, they want to know that you are on this journey with them. So the one thing that I would absolutely love every patient to know who is walking this journey of pain is that I’m there to walk it with them. They’re not alone. And I’d really love to influence that as much as I can, that one message that will not tire from being heard, and that’s the one thing.
DAVID: Do you think that, do you think as healthcare providers, we do a good job of that? Do you think that we’re, you know, and if not, then how do we get better at doing that? I mean, like, say it’s an incredibly important thing to get across to the people that we see. Are we doing it well enough, and how do we do it better? And how do we let the patients know that we do mean it, even though we may not say it, I guess.
JOYCE: Absolutely. I don’t think we do it well enough. I think to do it well. We have to be very mindful ourselves of we’ve got to live to breathe. We’ve got to live it before we can actually activate that behaviour in ourselves.
It can come from a look, it can come from, you know, a touch on the shoulder. It can come in words. Usually it will come in your actions. You know, something as simple as I’m going to call you back and I do call you back. That’s you are not alone. You know, it’s not necessarily the drug or the intervention or the $40,000 device that they need necessarily.
They can have those. And we know with placebo studies already that we do know that if they have the most amazing devices, no one cares for them. And no. You know, provide the human element. It’ll have quite a different effect to something that otherwise wasn’t a 40,000 innovation and gave them the touch that they needed.
And I don’t necessarily mean a physical touch. Touch comes in many different ways these days. It can come in as simple as a SMS message, believe it or not. That goes, “Hey, we’re here for you. Please call us if there’s any questions”, something as simple as that. So we’ve got to get creative as, as care providers on how we show that. And I think these days with social media, with digital ways of communicating, we can do that, you know, in and above. And it doesn’t mean that if you don’t show at this time, you don’t have another opportunity, you do. I think it’s just being thoughtful, as a clinician to go. Was that thoughtful?
Yes, it was technically correct. Couldn’t fault that I would’ve satisfied my AHPRA registration, but really, was it thoughtful? I think it’s a, it’s calling us to be mindfully practicing. I don’t think we taught how to mindfully practice and it’s applying what we want patients to learn in what we do.
If the discipline, I know from my own journey in providing care to patients, I have to discipline myself to do it, to be able to do it. If I so happen to have a lazy daisy day and go, oh, too tired. Oh, here’s another one coming in that door, I will tell you now that I won’t be as mindfully being, you know, representative of that message. So, um, but for the human suffering at the other end, it can very quickly reduce distress. And I think that alone is so powerful.
DAVID: Yeah. That’s awesome. And I, you know, I think you spanned a huge gamut from doing things like SMS or a phone call back story you know, a longer discussion down to, it’s just, it’s just a nod. It’s like you just said that and I’m giving you a nod that I got it. I registered that it’s in there and I’m paying attention to what you’re saying. That and all the things that come in between, and you’re right. That’s a skill set. It’s a soft skillset that we absolutely need to practice and have sharpened. When we’re on, when we’re in the clinic, you know, those minutes when you go back into the back and go like, okay, I don’t have to care. I can do whatever, but when I step back out, I’ve gotta be back on again.
JOYCE: It’s a performance or can be a performance at first. You know, it feels like a performance sometimes, but you discipline yourself. Sometimes if you’re not naturally that way, you have to practice in front of the mirror. You know but then it becomes more and more automatic. We’re not taught that we just aren’t, you know, nobody sits you in undergrad school and go, well, that nod had a frown on it. That felt a whole lot different than, you know, a nod. You know, hand even hand to heart to go, oh, you know, I’m hearing and I’m feeling it. You know? Yeah. That’s a very different message to Yes. I’m hearing and feeling it, you know, typing away the computer. Yeah. Looking away. So I know that’s body language as well comes into play, but at the end of the day, we, we need to naturally do it as well, as a clinician, but however it feels right, and whatever. It feels like you’ve got that immediate skill to go, look, I care, and I do. I may not have all the answers, but look, you’re not alone. That will satisfy lots and lots and lots of things for that patient sitting in front of you.
DAVID: Absolutely, and you’re right. Then they’ll pick up on it too. They’ll pick up on it just like that. So that’s awesome. Great. Well, thank you Joyce, for sharing your one thing with us. We greatly appreciate your time and, uh, we’ll let you get started with the rest of your day.
JOYCE: Thanks. Excellent.