Pain Management in Older Adults

Chapter 1. Epidemiology of pain.- Chapter 2. Pathophysiology of pain.- Chapter 3. Assessment of Pain.- Chapter 4. Non pharmacological management of pain in the elderly.- Chapter 5. Pharmacological treatment of pain.- Chapter 6. Pain in older adults with intellectual disabilities.- Chapter 7. Pain in critically ill older patients.- Chapter 8.Nursing roles in managing pain in older adults .- Chapter 9. Attitudes and Barriers to Pain Management in the Ageing Population.- Chapter 10. Translating Knowledge to Improve Pain Management Practices for Older Adults

Gisèle Pickering is Professor of Medicine and Clinical Pharmacologist at the University Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand, France. She is a permanent member of the Inserm Neurodol 1107 and CIC 1405 research groups on Fundamental and Clinical Pain, where her main topics of research concern the mechanism of action of analgesics, the impact of pain on cognitive processes and pain management in older persons. She belongs to the International Special Interest Group of Pain in older persons (IASP) and participated to the European COST program on pain in cognitively impaired persons. She is a member of the Doloplus® group that validated several behavioural scales (Doloplus®, Algoplus®), and of the Mobiqual® French project on pain education in nursing homes. She regularly contributes to peer-reviewed publications on Pharmacology and Pain, international meetings, and belongs to national and international Pain, Pharmacology and Geriatrics Societies.


Sandra Zwakhalen, RN, PhD is an Associate Professor with the Department of Health Services Research at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. She is a health scientist, originally trained as a nurse and her main research topic is: geriatric nursing care with a particular focus on pain assessment and management. She is one of the two coordinators of the Living Lab for Care of Older People. She serves as a board member at the European Academy of Nursing.

Sharon Kaasalainen, RN, PhD is an Associate Professor with the School of Nursing and is an Associate member of the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University, in the US. Her research program is focused on improving the quality of life for people living in Long Term Care (LTC) homes with a particular focus on pain management and palliative care using participatory action research methods. Other areas of interest include optimizing the role of nurse practitioners in LTC, specifically related to pain management.

"This book thoroughly covers the pathophysiology of pain and managing pain with pharmacological and nonpharmacological means. It is written for nurses, nurse specialists, advanced nurse practitioners, and academics. Pain occurs at all ages but rarely are there books dedicated to pain in the elderly. ... This book is unique in that it is an international collaboration, which enriches this exploration of pain management in older adults." (Carol Ann Siem, Doody's Book Reviews, November, 2018)