FAST FACTS: Non-Drug Treatment: Positioning

Positioning means assisting your family member to change to or stay in a comfortable position

Benefits of Positioning:

• Helps with pain management
• Decreases risk of complications sure as bedsores
• Helps maintain range of motion

Guidelines for Positioning and Stretching:

• Use pillows to support your family member
• When your family member is laying on their side, make sure their ear is flat on the pillow and not turned under.
• A full body pillow can be used to position your family member on their side.
• Gently bend and straighten arms and legs while helping your family member turn; do not force joints or muscles beyond a place of comfort. 
• Use your family member’s reactions as a guide for what is comfortable.
• If your family member is able to sit up, suggest they pretend to “write” the alphabet in the air using their feet or arms to support stretching and range of motion.
• They can alternate arms or feet writing six letters at a time
• Example:  Right Foot - A, B, C, D, E, F     /     Left Foot - G, H, I, J, K, L

What Else You Should Do:

• Write down and share information about your family member’s pain with their healthcare provider
• Use a Pain Diary to note important information useful to the healthcare provider
• Encourage your family member to try a non-drug treatment and document the impact on their pain in their Pain Diary

Reference:

1. Adapted from: Fouladbakhsh, J.M., et al., Nondrug therapies for pain management among rural older adults. Pain Manag Nurs, 2011. 12(2): p. 70-81. 2. The Nursing Home Pain Management Algorithm Clinical Trial, R01 NR009100,  7/1/05 – 4/30/10; Mary Ersek (PI) Used with permission of Mary Ersek and HPNA (2009).