The assessment and management of pain in older people : a systematic review of the literature

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a systematic literature which was carried out to determine the most appropriate strategies that could be carried out for the assessment and management of pain in residents living in care homes. Five hundred and seventy-one papers were initially identified and from this total 70 papers were found to be appropriate. These papers were organised into five key themes; Assessment & Behavioural Assessment, Barriers/Attitudes/Perceptions, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Complementary Therapies and Education/Guidelines. Most of the papers related to pain in this group were pharmacological suggesting that health care professionals generally feel that pharmacological approaches are the only way to manage pain in this group. Nevertheless, the non-pharmacological papers do suggest that there are other methods of pain control which should be considered. Recommendations for further research are made.