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Recognising pain in older adults living in sheltered accommodation: the views of nurses and older adults

Blomqvist, Kerstin LU and Rahm Hallberg, Ingalill LU (2001) In International Journal of Nursing Studies 38(3). p.305-318
Abstract
Sixty-six randomly selected older adults and their contact nurses participated in interviews based on standardised assessments of pain and open-ended questions focusing how pain was expressed and recognised. The sample included older adults with normal as well as cognitively impaired function. Seventy-nine percent of older adults with normal cognition were often in pain. Contact nurses assessed pain in 57% of cognitively impaired older adults. The content in the statements showed that pain recognition was a communicative interactive process based on verbal and non-verbal expressions. The process comprised attempts to understand the cause and intention of the expression and to verify the presence of pain. Changes in mood, facial expressions... (More)
Sixty-six randomly selected older adults and their contact nurses participated in interviews based on standardised assessments of pain and open-ended questions focusing how pain was expressed and recognised. The sample included older adults with normal as well as cognitively impaired function. Seventy-nine percent of older adults with normal cognition were often in pain. Contact nurses assessed pain in 57% of cognitively impaired older adults. The content in the statements showed that pain recognition was a communicative interactive process based on verbal and non-verbal expressions. The process comprised attempts to understand the cause and intention of the expression and to verify the presence of pain. Changes in mood, facial expressions and physiological responses were described less often by older adults than by their nurses. Contact nurses of cognitively impaired older adults judged immobility as the source of pain, that it was possible to see when the person was in pain and that pain was expressed by paralinguistic and body language more often than contact nurses of cognitively healthy older adults. Characteristics of nurses and older adults could facilitate or hinder pain recognition. The findings indicate a need for reflective discussions in the staff group focusing on how to perform systematic assessments of verbal and non-verbal expressions and of hindrances and facilitators for recognising pain in older adults. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Elderly, Pain assessment, Non-verbal communication, Cognitive impairment, Nursing care
in
International Journal of Nursing Studies
volume
38
issue
3
pages
305 - 318
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • pmid:11245867
  • scopus:0035380424
ISSN
1873-491X
DOI
10.1016/S0020-7489(00)00078-X
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: The VĂ¥rdal Institute (016540000)
id
e5da8cac-10de-4bf0-9a12-9344746f5e71 (old id 1120875)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:26:44
date last changed
2022-04-13 19:00:57
@article{e5da8cac-10de-4bf0-9a12-9344746f5e71,
  abstract     = {{Sixty-six randomly selected older adults and their contact nurses participated in interviews based on standardised assessments of pain and open-ended questions focusing how pain was expressed and recognised. The sample included older adults with normal as well as cognitively impaired function. Seventy-nine percent of older adults with normal cognition were often in pain. Contact nurses assessed pain in 57% of cognitively impaired older adults. The content in the statements showed that pain recognition was a communicative interactive process based on verbal and non-verbal expressions. The process comprised attempts to understand the cause and intention of the expression and to verify the presence of pain. Changes in mood, facial expressions and physiological responses were described less often by older adults than by their nurses. Contact nurses of cognitively impaired older adults judged immobility as the source of pain, that it was possible to see when the person was in pain and that pain was expressed by paralinguistic and body language more often than contact nurses of cognitively healthy older adults. Characteristics of nurses and older adults could facilitate or hinder pain recognition. The findings indicate a need for reflective discussions in the staff group focusing on how to perform systematic assessments of verbal and non-verbal expressions and of hindrances and facilitators for recognising pain in older adults.}},
  author       = {{Blomqvist, Kerstin and Rahm Hallberg, Ingalill}},
  issn         = {{1873-491X}},
  keywords     = {{Elderly; Pain assessment; Non-verbal communication; Cognitive impairment; Nursing care}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{305--318}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Nursing Studies}},
  title        = {{Recognising pain in older adults living in sheltered accommodation: the views of nurses and older adults}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0020-7489(00)00078-X}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/S0020-7489(00)00078-X}},
  volume       = {{38}},
  year         = {{2001}},
}