A recent study published in Pain Management Nursing sought to enhance pain management in nursing homes via an integrated pain management program (IPMP) for staff and residents. The Authors found that “IPMP was effective in enhancing the knowledge and attitudes of nursing staff, as well as reducing pain conditions and enhancing psychologic well-being for older persons in nursing homes.” Full Story
A recent review featured in Medscape Today, provides researchers and health professionals with a brief refresher regarding the proper methods for assessing pain among older adults. The review discussed methods for treating older adults patients with symptoms and conditions similar to the following case study: “Jane Jones is 72 years old and lives alone. She is quite active and likes to spend time outside. You often see her working in her garden when the weather allows or walking her dog. You haven't seen her recently, and you meet her one day as she comes out of her house. She tells you [...]
A recent study published in News Medical consisted of focus groups conducted by a panel of experts at Greenwich University in which individuals “were invited to provide their opinions on a range of self-help materials designed to give older adults advice and guidance on managing their pain.” Focus group participants were not required to “have specialist knowledge of health issues, but were required to have a broad interest in the subject of chronic pain and, in particular, how it affects the over-65 age group.” Full Story
A recent study in Medscape Today found that current pain assessment instruments should be modified in order to accommodate older adults. The author mentioned that, "Persistent pain affects 50% of individuals aged 65 and older. Our instruments for pain assessment and the content of curricula need to be geared to the unique challenges in older people." Full Story
On the website medpage.com, a recent article addressed the problem of chronic pain among older adults. The authors found that "18.7 million (52.3%) adults, ages 65 to 69, reported bothersome pain within the last month as did 56% those ages 90 and up." Full Story
The Stanford School of Medicine recently featured a study on their SCOPE blog that discussed the possibility of using video games to bolster mental health capacity among older adults. Please see below for an excerpt from the study: "Much of the psychological research conducted on the impact of digital games has focused on the possible adverse effects of playing digital games. Contrary to these and other studies, the findings of the current investigation suggest that older adults who reported playing digital games score, on average, significantly better than non-digital game playing on measures assessing a number of domains of successful aging." [...]
A recent article published on NBC.com found that "13 percent of boomers report 'excellent health,' compared to 32 percent of the earlier generation at that age." This implies that accure heftier health care cost, and would require more treatment options. Full Story
An article published in ScienceDaily evaluated the effect of cardio and weight lifting exercises on health care visits among older adults. The authors found that "those who participated in the cardio or weight training program incurred fewer health care resources -- such as doctor visits and lab tests." Full Story
A recent article published in Clinical Drug Investigation determined that "numerous barriers to effective management resulting in a large proportion of patients not achieving optimal pain control, " and that "chronic pain is inadequately treated because of a combination of cultural, societal, educational, political and religious constraints." Full Story
The New York Times recently featured an article on their Well blog that discussed the positive effects of psychological and emotional therapy for older adults. The following is an excerpt from the article: “For people in their 80s and 90s now, depression was considered almost a moral weakness,” said Dr. Gallagher-Thompson. “Fifty years ago, when they were in their 20s and 30s, people were locked up and someone threw away the key. They had a terrible fear that if they said they were depressed, they were going to end up in an institution. So they learned to look good and cover [...]
