Guidance for managing advanced cancer pain
Many people with advanced cancer pain will never see a pain specialist and their pain can be well managed in the hospital or community settings. The MACPT guidance aims to provide every member of the multi-professional care team with the necessary knowledge to assess and manage advanced cancer pain in day-to-day clinical practice.
The key to best practice is to adopt a holistic person-focused care approach, beginning with a detailed discussion that explores all dimensions of pain.
"This MACPT guidance is a well thought out, evidence-based guide for all healthcare professionals who will be able to address the sometimes complex needs of patients with advanced cancer. The holistic approach to the assessment tool will support and enable you to prevent and treat cancer pain with confidence. Use this guide and tell your colleagues about it."
Ms Naomi Fitzgibbon
Irish Cancer Society, Ireland
"The MACPT guidance is a very practical and helpful resource addressing important issues in advanced cancer patients' care. The methods presented and used in the guidance are evidence-, daily practice-, and expert opinion-based. It reflects a holistic approach and is easy to use for nursing and medical staff as well as patients."
Associate Professor Samuel Vokurka
University Hospital Pilsen, Czech Republic
"Communication with patients is a core clinical skill, yet even experienced healthcare professionals acknowledge that they feel ill-equipped to discuss many of the difficult issues that can arise. All healthcare professionals should be able, at the very least, to conduct a basic pain assessment. However, as the perception and consequences of pain are multifactorial, a more holistic assessment is needed as well. This is often difficult in a busy clinic so the assistance of guidance and tools such as MACPT could prove very useful."
Professor Dame Lesley Fallowfield
Sussex Health Outcomes Research & Education in Cancer, UK
Reporting of side effects
All medicines can cause side effects. If you get any side effects, talk to your doctor, pharmacist or nurse. By reporting side effects, you can help provide more information on the safety of medicines.