SEARHC - What's New - Haines healing room gives patients alternative to drugs when dealing with pain

Haines healing room gives patients alternative to drugs when dealing with pain

The SEARHC Haines Health Center has opened up a healing room and staff has been training in healing touch so that service might be offered in the future.

The healing room will provide healing and therapeutic services to patients who suffer from chronic pain. It is part of a pain management initiative that takes a multi-modality approach to treating chronic pain, trying to steer patients away from the "fix me" approach that relies on pain drugs. That means complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) may be used in some cases instead of or in tandem with standard alliopathic treatments.

"It's pretty well documented that patients benefit more from a multi-modality approach and they have better outcomes," said Lisa Schwartz, RN, who is working on the Haines project with physical therapist Marnie Hartman, Dr. Julia Heinz and Dr. Linda Keirstead. "As a clinic we're very interested in having patients work with these other modalities."

The healing room features a massage table, a biofeedback machine, phototherapy equipment (such as Seasonal Affective Disorder lights), acupuncture supplies, videoconference equipment and a patient education lending library. The healing room was financed by a $16,400 grant from the Rasmuson Foundation and $26,450 in SEARHC in-kind money to renovate the room. Some of the other CAM offerings will include hot stone massage, trigger point massage, osteopathic manipulation, ColdPac therapy, meditation and relaxation.

The Haines Health Center also hosts periodic chronic pain days, where one patient might see their primary provider, a physical therapist, a pharmacist, a CAM provider and a behavioral health therapist all in the same day. In the past the clinic also has sponsored an addiction specialist to speak to providers and staff on pain and addiction issues, a presentation that also was broadcast via Polycom to the other SEARHC sites.

"The patient has a half hour with each provider and then the patient sets their own goals and sets their priorities for dealing with chronic pain," Lisa said. "They have a lot more buy-in on their own plan this way."

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