For most senior citizens, old age brings a wide range of challenges. Chronic pain is among these challenges. This pain usually results from the numerous illnesses that older adults ail from. In their article, Netchanok Sritoomma and his colleagues identify back pain as one of the most common causes of discomfort among older adults (Sritoomma et al., 2014). In addition to pain, older adults also experience such other challenges as stress, anxiety and loneliness. These challenges have significantly erodes the quality of life of senior citizens. While encouraging progress has been made in enhancing the experiences of older adults, more action is needed.
Chronic pain is undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges that older adults grapple with. This challenge is particularly important to older adults in Canada. The relevance of this issue to Canadian older adults lies in the fact that these individuals are not spared of the challenges of old age. As is the case with other senior citizens in other countries, older adults in Canada also endure chronic pain. It has been noted above that chronic pain severely limits the quality of life of senior citizens. This revelation applies to older adults in Canada. Apart from older adults, the issue of chronic pain is also relevant to nursing practice. Nursing professionals are a vital component of the healthcare system. They are intimately involved in attending to the needs of patients. The question of chronic pain applies to nursing as it challenges nurses to identify interventions that can be used to alleviate the suffering of older adults. The purpose of this paper is to identify the interventions that have been proven to be effective in tackling chronic pain among senior citizens.
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Strategies to promote and protect health
The medical and academic fraternities have joined forces to identify approaches for addressing chronic pain among older adults. Meditation is one of these approaches. In an intriguing article, Jeanne Sorrell details how older adults can embrace meditation in their attempts to reduce the pain that they suffer. This intervention involves mindful reflection and an understanding of one’s body and environment. Breathing exercises are also a defining feature of meditation. In the article, Sorrell identifies various benefits that mindful meditation delivers to older adults. In addition to helping to tackle chronic pain, Sorrell finds that meditation is also effective in reducing depression and loneliness (Sorrell, 2015). She adds that thanks to meditation, individuals are relieved of caregiver burden and anxiety. She cites a number of scholars whose findings point to the effectiveness of meditation. Sorrell’s article is relevant to the issue of chronic pain. The relevance lies in the fact that this article addresses meditation and the proven benefits that it delivers to older adults who endure chronic pain and other health problems. While Sorrell focuses on the benefits of mindful meditation, she hints that this intervention has its limitations. She advises that only certified professionals should administer the intervention (Sorrell, 2015). This advice limits the adoption of the intervention as medical facilities without certified professionals would be unable to administer meditation. Despite this limitation, the reliability and credibility of the insights that Sorrell shares is not in question. While she does not provide any raw data, she cites other scholars who have established conclusively that meditation presents numerous benefits. Citing these scholars is also a key source of credibility. The article gains further credibility from the fact that it featured in a peer-reviewed journal and Sorrell’s credentials as a registered nurse who also holds a PhD.
Swedish massage is yet another intervention that has been demonstrated to be effective in alleviating chronic pain. Sritoomma and his team explore this intervention in their article. These scholars describe this intervention as a “systematic and scientific manipulation of the soft tissues with rhythmical pressure… for the purpose of obtaining or maintaining health” (Sritoomma et al., 2014). Swedish massage is a combination of conventional massage with aromatherapy. After conducting a study, Sritoomma and his team observed that Swedish massage effectively reduced pain and improved disability in the long and short term (Sritoomma et al., 2014). That it is an intervention for chronic pain is what makes Swedish massage a relevant intervention. As Sritoomma and his colleagues confirm, those who use this intervention witness significant improvements. Whereas it remains an effective intervention, it may be difficult for facilities without qualified and certified massage therapists to adopt Swedish massage. The data that Sritoomma and his team provide is reliable. The reliability stems from the fact that the data was obtained through a rigorous study that followed established scientific principles. To lend credibility to their article, Sritoomma and his team cite other scholars.
The third intervention that addresses chronic pain among older adults is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Katherine Beissner and her fellow scholars examine this intervention in an article that they authored. Basically, CBT involves such measures as activity pacing and relaxation (Beissner et al., 2009). Other CBT techniques include exercises meant to strengthen and stretch the joints. Beissner and her team confirm that CBT helps to lower the pain levels among older adults (Beissner et al., 2009). CBT is relevant because of the promise that it holds as regards treating chronic pain. Now that it has been established to be effective, practitioners can adopt CBT in their treatment of older adults with chronic pain. One of the limitations of CBT is that very few practitioners have embraced it (Beissner et al., 2009). This limitation could make it difficult to gain the confidence of more practitioners and assure them that it is indeed effective. The article that Beissner and his team authored is both credible and reliable. The reliability stems from the survey that the authors conducted. Through this survey, they obtained data on the experiences of older adults with chronic pain. Citing other scholars who confirm their findings and the credentials of the authors are the key sources of credibility.
Nurse’s role in health promotion/intervention
Nurses have an important role to play in addressing chronic pain among older adults. According to the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) Framework for the Practice of Registered Nurses in Canada, nurses need to uphold various values as they discharge their duties. These values include promoting compassionate care, wellbeing of patients, preserving dignity of patients and promoting justice (CNA, 2015). As they become involved in alleviating the pain that older adults experience, nurses are effectively demonstrating these values. The CNA framework also challenges nurses to embrace evidence-based practice and serving the public. They are able to honor these obligations when they respond to the plight of senior citizens.
Three interventions have been identified in an earlier discussion. In their attempts to adopt these interventions, nurses may encounter challenges. Lack of competence and qualifications is among these challenges. The successful integration of these interventions requires special skills and expertise. If nurses lack these skills, they will be unable to fully adopt the interventions. To address this hurdle, nurses need to promote training. Cost constraints are another hurdle that nurses should brace for. Such interventions as Swedish massage may be costly. Partnering with donors and organizations that seek to promote the wellbeing of older adults is a measure that nurses can adopt to address this hurdle.
Summary and conclusions
Chronic pain continues to cause older adults discomfort and agony. That thousands of senior citizens continue to endure pain is evidence that more needs to be done. Swedish massage, mindful meditation and CBT are just three of the many approaches that can be used to alleviate pain. In addition to reducing pain, these approaches present other benefits such as reducing stress and depression. Nurses need to be in the forefront in integrating these interventions into practice. As they do this, they should anticipate such hurdles as cost constraints and lack of competency. There is also need for nurses to join forces with other stakeholders to end the suffering of older adults.
References
Beissner, K., Henderson, C. R., Papaleontiou, M., Olkhovskaya, Y., Wigglesworth, J. &
Reid, M. C. (2009). Physical Therapists’ Use of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Older Adults with Chronic Pain: A Nationwide Survey. Physical Therapy, 89 (5), 456-469.
Canadian Nurses Association (CNA). (2015). Framework for the Practice of Registered Nurses In Canada. Ottawa: Canadian Nurses Association.
Sorrell, J. M. (2015). Meditation for Older Adults. A New Look at an Ancient Intervention for Mental Health. Aging Matters, 53 (5), 15-19.
Sritoomma, N., Moyle, W., Cooke, M. & O’Dwyer, S. (2014). The Effectiveness of Swedish Massage with Aromatic Ginger Oil in Treating Chronic Low Back Pain in Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 22, 26-33.
Appendix
Literature search strategy and results
It is unwise to conduct a search for literature without a clear strategy. To ensure that I obtained reliable insights, I developed a strategy that guided my literature search process. Relevance, currency and reliability are the primary issues that constituted the search strategy. I sought to ensure that the literature that I searched for was relevant to the issue of chronic pain. I also limited my search to literature that was current and reliable. To ensure reliability, I scrutinized the credentials of authors. I only considered articles that had been authored by individuals with some qualifications that lend them the authority to discuss interventions for chronic pain. For example, I considered authors who are either academicians or members of the nursing profession. I also examined the claims that the authors made in their article. I needed to ensure that these claims were sound and echoed in research that other scholars have carried out. For example, I examined other articles to ensure that cognitive behavioral therapy has conclusively been established to be an effective approach to alleviating chronic pain among older adults. As part of my strategy, I also limited my search to established databases such as Google Scholar. These databases contain hundreds of articles that focus on chronic pain and effective interventions. The results of my search process point to the effectiveness of the strategy that I adopted. Thanks to my strategy, I was able to obtain three recent articles that examine different interventions for alleviating chronic pain among older adults. After scrutinizing the articles, I found that they were relevant as well as credible and reliable. Since they are the result of a thorough and rigorous search process, these articles can be taken as authorities on effective interventions for tackling chronic pain among older adult populations. These articles challenge health practitioners to take action to alleviate the suffering that senior citizens endure.
