Care of Older People
Our Campaign
To many people it will seem incredible that we should, at the beginning of the twenty first century still be talking about pain management in older people. In 2007 the medical and alternative therapies to relieving chronic pain are widely known and constantly developing. There is no reason for anyone to live needlessly with exhausting and debilitating pain.
Chronic pain is one of the most common reasons people seek medical help and depending on the severity of their pain is thought to use health services up to five times more often than the rest of the population. Chronic Pain is a particularly serious problem in later lime and can cause tremendous suffering for patients. The effects of chronic pain can leave its sufferers depressed, withdrawn from social activities and isolated. These effects significantly impact quality of life and nowhere are they more apparent than amongst older people.
Pain in Older People - The Carer's Perspective
The Patients Association began our Pain in Older People project in 2006 with our first report Pain in Older People – The Carer’s Perspective. This report surveyed the carer’s of more than 3,000 chronic pain suffers aged 65 and over to discover how pain was assessed and managed in elderly patients. We found that not only did chronic pain drastically reduce quality of life for older patients but in many cases their pain levels were not being adequately managed by healthcare professionals. The report also showed that most carers felt not enough was being done to improve the management of their patient’s pain.
To download the full report Pain in Older People – The Carer’s Perspective please visit our Research Publications page
Following our research into pain from the carer’s perspective we then widened our research in March 2007 to the pain suffered by Nursing and Care home residents. Pain in older people can reduce mobility together with the ability to cope independently and chronic pain caused by long term conditions is widespread amongst nursing home residents. Often the very reason for admission to a nursing home is a long term condition frequently accompanied by chronic pain.
Pain In Older People - A Hidden Problem
Our report, Pain in Older People – A Hidden Problem focuses on residents’ individual experiences of chronic pain, and for the first time ever residents themselves were interviewed about the chronic pain with which they often needlessly live. With more than half a million older people living in care homes and an increasing population over 65 the management of chronic pain is a fundamental reflection of the way older people are treated.
The report showed a vast majority of resident were not being talked to by healthcare professionals about how their pain could be treated and many said any discussions that did take place excluded the residents themselves. Whilst many residents expressed an interest in managing their pain themselves there was a lack of information about self-management of pain and in some cases alternative treatments were welcome but occasional. Overall the report showed that much more needs to be done to provide Care and Nursing home residents with the pain relief they are entitled to receive.
To download the full report Pain in Older People – A Hidden Problem please visit our Research Publications page
We hope that the results from both of our reports are used in improving quality of life for all suffers of chronic pain and will continue to campaign for high quality care for all patients, especially the elderly to be provided with dignity and respect.
For further campaigns for changes in policy fighting for disadvantaged older people, please follow the links below.
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