Pain Management and assessment

Older adults are especially vulnerable to pain. They report more pain complaints in general and exhibit an increased incidence of chronic pain conditions. To compound the problem, standard drug treatments are frequently problematic due to side effects and pain is often under-assessed leading to under-treatment. It is therefore important to explore alternatives to drug treatment as well as methods for accurately assessing pain. This chapter reviews non-pharmacological interventions for pain and developments in assessment methods, and reviews current evidence to help evaluate their potential for pain management and assessment in older adults