Information Sheet 18 - Pain Assessment and Management in Patients with Dementia

The aims of this information sheet are:

• Raise the awareness of primary care practitioners concerning the prevalence, common causes and reasons for poor recognition of pain in patients with dementia.
• Improve the knowledge of practitioners regarding the consequences of undertreating pain in patients with dementia.
• Provide sources of information that can be useful for facilitating effective pain assessment in patients with dementia.
• Outline the principles of pain management in this group of patients.

Download the information sheet here.

You can download the documents referenced on page 3 of the information sheet here:

• PAINAID (Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia Scale)
• Abbey Pain Scale
• PACSLAC (Pain Assessment Checklist for Seniors with Limited Ability to Communicate)
• Doloplus 2 Scale
• DisDAT (Disability Distress Assessment Tool)

Each of our sheets have been developed to provide valuable information, training and support tools on primary care mental health in Wales. Their publication comes under the set objectives of our Gold Standard Project which has set the goafl of providing good communication on mental health issues. We have a range of other information sheets which are all available to view and download from our Information Sheets page.

If you have any questions about Information Sheet 18 or trouble viewing or downloading it please contact our Project Manager Lesley Hills via email at lhills@rcgp.org.uk or on 029 2050 4526