pak2020

Abstract Immersive virtual reality (VR) can provide a high level of engagement and distraction analgesia to address pain. However, community-based applications of this technology for older adults have not been studied. The objective of this study was to examine the applicability and effectiveness of an immersive VR intervention for pain, depression, and quality of life (QOL) in older adults. This pretest-posttest, mixed-methods design included senior center members ( n = 12) with pain that interfered with daily functioning. The outcomes included the NumericPain Rating Scale, Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) depression scale, World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale [...]

Shari Horne broke her toes a decade ago, and after surgery, “I have plates and pins and screws in my feet, and they get achy at times,” she said. So Horne, 66, applies a salve containing cannabidiol, derived from the cannabis, or marijuana, plant. It eases the pain. The salve didn’t help when she developed bursitis in her shoulder, but a tincture of cannabidiol mixed with THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, provided relief. Using a pipe, she also smokes “a few hits” of a cannabis brand called Blue Dream after dinner, because “I think relaxing is healthy for you.” Many [...]

A federal advisory panel known as the Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force has released a draft report listing its recommendations for improving pain care in the United States. The content is both revealing and promising, because its recognizes the complex nature of chronic pain and the difficulty in treating it effectively. The task force was formed as a result of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) of 2016. Its mission is to identify gaps and inconsistencies in acute and chronic pain management and to propose possible solutions. Article by Roger Chriss, PNN Columnist. To read the full article, [...]

Abstract BACKGROUND: Sedentary behavior (SB), which has been linked with numerous adverse health outcomes, is prevalent among adults with osteoarthritis (OA). The associations between SB and daily physical and psychological health outcomes for OA patients, however, have received little attention. PURPOSE: Using accelerometer and self-report data, the current study examined how the amount of time OA patients spent in SB was associated with their pain and affect in daily life, independent of physical activity. METHODS: Over 22 days, 143 older adults (mean age = 65 years) with knee OA wore an accelerometer to measure SB and physical activity, and also [...]

Ida Ruggiero, an opinionated great-grandma, remembered the deep embarrassment that crept over her when she told each of her five adult children her news. Ruggiero, 81, was using weed, twice a day. With her doctor’s permission, of course. Yes, the same substance that she had sternly warned them not to try when they were teens growing up in a middle-class home in South Jersey in the ‘60s. “I used to threaten that I would beat them,” Ruggiero, a former school board member, said a few hours after she had popped a piece of a cannabis lozenge. None of her now-adult children [...]

A new mobile phone app allows pain sufferers, who have difficulty communicating, the ability to raise the alarm through facial recognition technology. With 80 percent of aged care residents living with some form of pain or another, the technology now allows those in agony to get assistance when they are struggling to make themselves understood. The PainChek App has been rolled out to 20 aged care facilities across Australia. Article by Tom Livingston, Associate Producer, 9news.com.au Click here to see full article and video