Talking to older people in care homes: results of a pilot study: perceptions of their pain and their preferred management strategies

This paper describes a qualitative study that was conducted within the care home setting o determine the pain experiences of residents, their preferred strategies and the staff attitudes and understanding about pain. An exploratory cross sectional study within six care homes within one district was conducted using several methods of data collection. The residents and staff were interviewed and a questionnaire given to a random sample of staff. Several key themes were identified by residents including a reluctance to report pain, acceptance that pain wass normal and low expectations of help from medical interventions, fear of chemical or pharmacological interventions, age related rerceptions of pain and lack of awareness of potential pain relieving strategies. Staff interviews highlighted that they wanted to know if the residents were in pain, wanting to do more and an interest in using complementary therapies. Recommendations are made for further research in this area.