Pain is a pervasive and prevalent issue in both community and residential aged care settings.
Reports indicate that a staggering 93% of individuals receiving aged care services experience pain regularly, with almost half of those experiencing pain most of the time.
Unfortunately, older individuals and those living with disabilities are at a higher risk of chronic pain than other community members, which makes it an issue that must be appropriately addressed by caregivers and healthcare professionals.
In addition, there is also a high correlation between brain disease-dementia and pain, with around 50% of the population in residential aged care and 25% of those living in the community experiencing painful conditions related to their brain disease-dementia.
Given the high incidence of pain in aged care settings, it is crucial to provide safe and quality pain management for older Australians. To help healthcare professionals better understand the issues surrounding pain management in the elderly population, Anchor Excellence has partnered with PainChek to contribute to increasing clinical skills and knowledge in this area.
Together, the Anchor Academy team, Dr Irene Stein and Carla Beheram, and PainChek’s Clinical Consultant Catherine Smith have developed a pain management masterclass that provides a blend of theoretical and practical education specifically for those working in Aged care settings. Participants can expect to enhance their skills to effectively identify, assess and manage pain for their clients, in particular those living with cognitive impairment and dementia.
If you are seeking to deliver better clinical care and outcomes, register for the Pain Masterclass click here
The Masterclass will comprise of three 1 hour modules:
Module 1 will:
- Define and explain the nature of pain, covering the definition of pain, the various types of pain (acute, chronic, nociceptive, neuropathic), the mechanism of pain, and the physiology of pain.
- Identify pain in the aged care context explaining the prevalence of pain in the elderly population, the barriers to pain recognition and management in aged care, and the importance of recognising pain in older adults.
- Contextualise the impact of pain on wellbeing, exploring the physical, psychological, and social impact of pain on the individual’s wellbeing and quality of life.
Module 2 will:
- Examine different methods of pain assessment covering validated pain assessment tools, such as the numeric rating scale, visual analogue scale, and explain their strengths and weaknesses in relation to individual assessment requirements.
- Detail different types of pain management interventions, exploring both non-pharmacological and pharmacological methods of pain management.
- Explain the challenges in recognising and managing pain in older people with a diagnosis of brain disease-dementia and the importance of individualised pain management plans in this context.
Module 3 will:
- Emphasise the importance of frequent pain assessment, including the need for regular pain assessment and reassessment to ensure timely recognition and management of pain.
- Evaluate pain assessment data, including the importance of reflective practice in pain assessment and management, and provide interaction to enhance self-reflection skills.
- Examine the relevance of pain assessment information for AN-ACC assessments.
To find out more information and register for the Pain Masterclass, click here.
