Assessment and management of pain in older adults with dementia : a review of current practice and future directions

Abstract

Pain in older adults has received increasing attention within the literature during the last decade, and in the past 12 months, there have been a number of papers published that highlight several key issues in the area. In terms of pharmacology and complementary therapies, there is still a need to evaluate their use in older adults in general. We have seen guidelines introduced and we need to consider how well these are being implemented. However, most importantly, we are now seeing increasing evidence supporting the use of three behavioural pain assessment scales, which look promising for the future.