PAIN ASSESSMENT VIA ROLE-PLAY INTERNET SIMULATION

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Inadequately treated pain is an important issue for healthcare as patients demand better care and organizations such as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations focus on pain management. Studies indicate a significant undertreatment of pain in hospitalized patients, residents of long-term care facilities, and in patients at the end of life. The elderly, young, and minorities are at particular risk. Pain assessment, a critical component of pain management, is a complex ongoing task requiring good patient-provider communication skills, which are difficult to teach. PARIS (Pain Assessment via Role-play Internet Simulation) is an innovative tool that addresses this training need. Phase I successfully produced the Fundamentals of Pain Assessment, a multimedia tutorial that also enables learners to interact with "patients" via voice-recording role-plays. Learners unanimously agreed that PARIS is useful and engaging, and that the simulated role-plays are an excellent way to practice needed communication skills. Phase II will expand on Phase I, producing a series of modules that address additional pain assessment topics (e.g. types and dimensions of pain) and the skills and knowledge particular to specific patient populations (e.g. elderly, and children). PARIS will provide healthcare institutions with a comprehensive program to assist in pain assessment training. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: There is a large market for PARIS including hospitals, clinics, long-term facilities, and medical and nursing schools. There are several potential marketing partners including companies that provide healthcare education over the Internet, medical publishing companies, organizations with educational services (e.g., JCAHO), and pharmaceutical companies.