This Is Guernsey

HEALTH professionals in the island were yesterday learning how better to detect and treat pain in the elderly. A number of top specialists from the UK spoke during the Pain in Older Persons conference at Beau Sejour about a variety of issues facing health workers including pain management in older people, perceptions, assessment and looking at the different approaches to treatment.

Troels Jensen, president of the International Association of the Study of Pain, said that the number of elderly people in Guernsey society was increasing dramatically.

‘It is predicted that by 2050 the proportion of people over the age of 65 will increase from 17.5% to 36.3% in developed countries,’ he said.

‘Since the elderly represent a fragile and large group of the population, we need to pay close attention to pain. The management of pain in older persons represents a particular challenge.’

Dr Calum McClymont, who chaired the afternoon session of the conference, said such people had been somewhat neglected in recent years.

‘They are a vulnerable group, the elderly, and this conference will help make us all think afresh about the issues that face older people,’ he said.

‘I think we need to realise that pain in the elderly is a problem. Elderly people often do not complain when they are hurting. If I’m in pain I will tell everyone about it but older people often suffer in silence, which we must change.’

He said there were particular illnesses that made it much harder for doctors and carers to detect if the patient was in pain because the patient’s communications skills might be affected.

‘Dementia and Alzheimer’s sufferers are a sub-group that we are particularly concerned about, but we need to address all elderly sufferers,’ said Dr McClymont.

Helen Taylor, consultant nurse, pain management, at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital, said it was a complex issue that the conference would help to deal with.

‘I’m hoping that every health professional will go away inspired to look at how they can assess and identify pain in the older people in their care,’ she said.

‘Guernsey is like every other developed country in the world in that we struggle to deal with people who are cognitively impaired.

‘Pain does not have to go untreated but it’s so important that it is reported. If people who are close to the elderly believe they are in pain, they must help by reporting it to a carer.’

Article posted on 31st March, 2007 - 12.00am