Pain Assessment in People with Dementia: A Practical Approach

Overview

Pain is common, but frequently under-recognized, in older adults living with dementia. In long-term care settings, unrecognized pain contributes to unnecessary suffering, increased behavioral symptoms, inappropriate psychotropic medication use, and staff burnout.

This presentation will describe a practical approach to assessing pain in people with dementia, both through self-report (where possible) and through systematic observational procedures, including the Pain Checklist for Seniors with Limited Ability to Communicate-II (PACSLAC-II).

This course emphasizes real-world implementation in long-term care and interdisciplinary collaboration to improve patient comfort and quality of life.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

1. Select appropriate self-report pain scales for individuals with mild to moderate dementia.

2. Identify why visual analog scales are often inappropriate in cognitively impaired populations.

3. Implement observational pain tools such as PACSLAC2 for non-communicative patients.

4. Establish individualized pain baselines and monitor meaningful change over time.

5. Avoid reliance on fixed cutoff scores when interpreting behavioral pain scales.

6. Conduct movement-based pain assessments safely and effectively.

7. Differentiate pain-related behaviors from delirium, depression, and psychiatric symptoms.
   
   

Audience

This course is designed for:

• Physiotherapists

• Occupational therapists

• Nurses

• Long-term care clinicians

• Geriatric healthcare providers

• Rehabilitation professionals working with older adults

Why This Course Matters

People with dementia may not be able to clearly communicate pain. As a result:

• Pain is under-treated

• Psychotropic medications may be overused

• Behavioral symptoms may be misinterpreted

• Staff stress and burnout may increase

Structured assessment changes outcomes.

About the Presenter

Thomas Hadjistavropoulos, Ph.D., ABPP, FCAHS  

Thomas Hadjistavropoulos is an international leader in the area of pain assessment in dementia. He is a Research Chair in Aging and Health, Director of the Centre on Aging and Health, and Professor of Psychology at the University of Regina.

He is a Past-President of the Canadian Psychological Association; has shown leadership in the promotion of the health sciences at the local, national, and international levels; and has been honoured through a long list of prestigious awards and distinctions. His research is currently supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation, the AGE-WELL Network of Centres of Excellence, and the Canada Foundation for Innovation. He has published approximately 250 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and seven books. Hadjistavropoulos is also the Editor-in-Chief of Ethics & Behavior and serves on several other editorial boards.