Older People Coping With Chronic Pain

The incidence of chronic pain is common among older people and often disabling. The experience of chronic pain is complex, highly individual and the manner in which it is expressed is varied. Styles adapting to chronic pain conditions are diverse, ranging from positive adjustment ('coping') to less functional adaptations, with the latter being referred to as 'stoicism' and 'catastrophising'. This research was undertaken to investigate how the experience of chronic pain is constructed by older people who are coping and by nurses working with older people. The implications for nursing practice were pivotal to the project. Interviews and questionnaires were conducted to identify, through content and thematic analysis, the constructs used. Older people also completed questionnaires that presented a range of assessment tools, which were trialed and commented on. Nurses' attitudes towards older people experiencing pain were also surveyed.