Pain in Older People - The Carer's Perspective
First time research reveals appalling new data on the carer’s perspective of looking after older people in pain. Commissioned by The Patients Association, 3,000 carers of those aged 65+ living with chronic pain were surveyed across
The general feeling amongst carers – that not enough is being done to improve the management of their patient’s pain – is summed up by this respondent:
“When the pain was at its worse I felt helpless. The GP didn’t want to know (‘nothing I can do’) and if I sent her to hospital they’d waste time looking for the causes instead of treating the pain.”
After consulting healthcare professionals:
- Less than one-third of non-professional carers saw a positive outcome for their patient’s pain
- Only 6% of carers reported an outcome that was not based on medication, suggesting a heavy reliance on tablets or capsules to alleviate suffering, and much less emphasis on bio psychosocial (non-medical) pain management solutions.
Katherine Murphy from the Patients Association concluded: “It is clear that older people’s chronic pain is still being neglected. GPs need more education on managing pain and ensuring carers and the general public have better access to the information available on pain management solutions.”
To download the full report, please click here.
