Imagery Literature Review Guided Imagery

¶ … Imagery Literature Review Guided Imagery and Pain Management Ferrell, Betty R., et al. "Pain management for elderly patients with cancer at home." CANCER-PHILADELPHIA- 74 (1994): 2139-2139. The first study to be examined in this review was conducted by Ferrell and regards pain management techniques in elderly cancer patients who are living in a home environment. Here, the theory is that pain management is a great and noninvasive technique for managing severe levels of pain that cannot be cured through traditional methods.

It can be seen as an alternative to overmedication, which can decrease the quality of the patient's live in his or her remaining days. Elderly patients have a particularly hard time recovering from more invasive pain management strategies, and thus this population serves to benefit the most from such pain management techniques. A structured pain evaluation and management program was instituted so that participants could reflect on how it impacts their overall levels of pain.

Thus, the dependent variable here was the significance and severity of pain, while the independent variable was the presence of guided imagery. Within the population of 66 elderly oncology patients, there was a plan to conduct three home visits and two follow up sessions, where educational programs depicting strategies of guided imagery aimed to help empower participants to use such strategies autonomously in order to help manage their pain when it was at its worse.

The study used repeated measurement analysis and concluded with the concept that the quality of life of patients exposed to guided imagery did improve based on their ability to better manage their pain. Physical pain severity was reduced and psychological stress was also reduced. Thus, the researchers posited that guided imagery is a successful tool for working with elderly oncology patients in lieu of traditional therapies. Menzies, V., Taylor, a.G., & Bourguignon, C. (2006).

Effects of guided imagery on outcomes of pain, functional status, and self-efficacy in persons diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine, 12(1), 23-30. This study was conducted in 2006 in order to explore how guided imagery could help establish more successful methods of pain management within populations suffering from fibromyalgia, a type of nerve disorder that often causes chronic pain within those that it inflicts. Menzies et al.

used a longitudinal study that focused on a randomized study population group within a controlled clinical trial that tested the control group who were exposed to usual care with an experimental group who introduced to some of the elements of guided imagery as a way to manage and cope with rising pain levels. The study used a theoretical framework that asserted the power of guided imagery as a way t manage chronic pain.

In all, 48 people were included in the study; each recruited from their primary physician who helps them set pain management strategies so that they can continue to live their lives, even with the effects of fibromyalgia. In the context of the study, researchers assigned guided imagery techniques randomly to those 48 people. They control group received usual care methods. As such the dependent variable was the level of pain, while the independent variable was the presence of guided imagery.

Those who were exposed to guided imagery therapy strategies witnessed a tape each day that used a series of guided imagery scripts over a period of six weeks. These tapes helped walk the subjects through the process of guided imagery and helped them visualize a less pain controlled life and body. The control group was assigned much more traditional techniques. Over the period of six weeks, the pain levels of each group were monitored and then compared at the end.

Participants filled out a Short-Form McGill Questionnaire, an Arthritis Self-Efficacy Scale, and Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire in order to measure their levels of pain over the past few weeks. What the researchers found through statistical analysis was self-management strategies that reduced pain over time were most effective in the group that was exposed to guided imagery techniques. The level of guided imagery therapy was not itself significant, but more of the fact of whether or not it was present in the patient's therapy or not.

This helps illustrate the effectiveness of guided imagery in managing long-term chronic pain when there are no fundamental cures present within traditional therapeutic practices. Pain management symptoms improved, but the symptoms overall remained. This shows that guided imagery is not a cure in and of itself, but rather an effective way to reduce and manage the pain that is present in chronic conditions like fibromyalgia. Weydert, J.A., Shapiro, D.E., Acra, S.A., Monheim, C.J., Chambers, a.S., & Ball, T.M. (2006).

Evaluation of guided imagery as treatment for recurrent abdominal pain in children: a randomized controlled trial. BMC pediatrics, 6(1), 29. This research explored the notion of whether or not guided imagery could help children manage their own pain levels. It also rests on the theoretical concept that guided imagery is a noninvasive and alternative method for successfully managing pain in various types of patient populations. Weydert et al. (2006) used a more specific population, working directly with children and minors under the age of 18 years old who suffer from reoccurring abdominal pain issues.

The self-regulation technique of guided imagery was used as a potential pain intervention method that would help empower the participants by providing them with effective pain management strategies they could use autonomously when they found themselves in pain. In this randomized clinical study, 22 children were recruited through their primary physicians. Here, once again the independent variable was the presence of guided imagery techniques and the dependent variable was the pain level reported by the children throughout the process. Children in the experimental group.