With around 4.4 million Australians affected by a disability, and thousands more going through painful health conditions every day, Allied Health services are very important for special needs children and adults. Part of our disability support services is pain assessment and management, which gives healthcare providers and carers a better understanding of what patients need.
Let’s explore the three main assessment tools used for pain and trauma management in Australia by Allied Health.
The Abbey pain scale is used to measure pain in special needs children and others who cannot verbalise. Healthcare providers and carers observe patients and select absent, mild, moderate, or severe ratings for vocalisation, facial expression, change in body language, behavioural change, physiological change, and physical changes. This is added up to reach the total pain score, which could be 0-2 – no pain, 3-7 mild, 8-13 moderate, or 14+ severe.
Another option for chronic pain management is the FLACC pain scale, which is a behavioral pain assessment used to observe pain in patients who cannot self-report, whether they are nonverbal or asleep and unable to speak. The five main categories include face, legs, activity, cry, and consolability (FLACC). Each category is scored on a scale of 0-2, resulting in a total score of 0-10. A 0 score means relaxed and comfortable, while 1-3 is mild discomfort, 4-6 is moderate pain, and 7-10 is severe.
Doctors, nurses, and personal support carers may also use the Wong-Baker FACES pain scale, which was designed to help young patients communicate their pain through a chart depicting different facial expressions. Children are shown a picture of six faces with varying levels of pain and asked to select the one that depicts how they feel.
Proper pain and trauma management make a huge difference to special needs children and adults who may not be able to communicate their needs otherwise. The Abbey, FLACC, and Wong-Baker pain scales are all important to chronic pain management and helpful for people with disabilities.
If you’re interested in professional pain and trauma management, please enquire today to learn more from the disability support specialists at Fair Go Access in Geelong.
