Making patients' lives comfortable?

ost residents of nursing homes are in chronic pain but accept this las an inevitable part of ageing, according to a new report. \nA Hidden Problem: pain in older people, the Picker Institute found that a 'high level of stoicism among residents means they often suffer in silence, yet staff are failing to ask residents about their pain'. Stoicism was the most typical response from the 77 nursing home residents who took part in the report. When asked whether they agreed with the statement: 'As you get older you just have to put up with some aches and pains,' 82 per cent agreed. The report's authors found that most residents believed nothing more could be done. 'Very few had been given, or sought, the opportunity to discuss other ways of managing their pain with either their GP or nursing staff.' Ofthe 24 nursing homes that took part in the report, few were aware of other services available. There was also an overwhelming acceptance of pain as inevitable which meant few showed any real interest in challenging the pain management regime of the care home.