ion about the various types of pain management is also helpful as are therapeutic modalities such as support groups or short-term psychological therapy.
The World Health Organization (1999) states that pain medication (any form of pharmacological assistance that results in pain reduction), and relaxation and support techniques (any type of therapy that promotes and/or facilitates relaxation and/or coping responses), are among the most frequently used methods of treating the pain associated with cancer. Given the level of fear experienced by so many cancer patients regarding pain (Regaard, 2000), it seems reasonable to examine the extent to which the literature supports that the conjoint use of these two cancer pain management options actually result in the elimination or reduction of cancer pain. Making this determination is the purpose of the literature review presented in this paper.
This paper's research problem involves exploring the existing knowledge base to determine the extent to which research on the conjoint use of medication (any form) and relaxation and support techniques (any one or more of these techniques) successfully reduces or eliminates cancer pain. The problem can be recharacterized as an attempt to answer the following research question:
Research Question - Does research on the conjoint use of pain medication (any form) and relaxation/support techniques (any form), as methods of cancer pain management, support the claim that their conjoint use is effective in reducing and/or eliminating the pain experienced by cancer patients?
Because the medical profession offers a great many programs that conjointly prescribe some form of medication and some form of relaxation/support techniques for pain management in treatment of cancer patients (Jacobson, Workman, Kronenberg & Herbert, 1999), it is reasonable to believe that these treatments would not be so frequently used did they not have direct impact in terms of ...