PainChek assessment tool linked to improving the wellbeing of people with dementia
Use of digital pain assessment tool PainChek has been linked to improved wellbeing for residents with dementia, in a study published in the peer-reviewed journal, Frontiers in Psychiatry.
To enhance the quality of life for people with dementia, leading care provider Orchard Care Homes established a multi-faceted psychosocial intervention programme called ‘Reconnect’ designed to increase meaningful occupation and engagement, improve pain identification and management, and reduce constipation and distress.
The study reviewed the impact of this programme on people with dementia who had not previously responded to support in alternative settings or found previous care ineffective in relieving their distress and reducing risks they pose to themselves or others.
The Reconnect programme’s interventions, based around meaningful activity engagement, pain management and constipation relief, resulted in significant improvements related to people’s distress, psychotropic use, and safeguarding. With a 91.7 per cent reduction, from 36 to three events, in safeguarding events related to behaviours observed.
Philip Daffas , CEO of PainChek, commented: “Orchard Care Homes has used PainChek for more than three years and its ‘Reconnect’ quality improvement programme aligns with our mission to provide innovative solutions for pain management in dementia care.
“These positive clinical outcomes underscore the importance of our collaborative efforts and the contribution of the PainChek technology to improving the quality of life for those living with dementia.”
With 23 care homes in the north west, north east, Yorkshire and the Midlands, Orchard claims to be the largest care provider in the UK to use PainChek to identify pain in its residents living with dementia.
Hannah Miller, Head of Dementia at Orchard Care Homes, added: “It is well known that failure to recognise and treat pain effectively is a problem amongst people living with dementia.
“Pain is a trigger of distress, yet often overlooked as a contributing factor, and the person is not only left to suffer unnecessarily in pain, but also to be prescribed psychotropic agents to manage their behaviours.
“Integration of PainChek in Orchard Care Homes’ electronic care plan has been a real game changer, enabling our care teams to closely monitor and assess the pain experience of individuals in their care using a mobile care device, providing staff with a long-term view of when a resident is likely to experience pain.”
PainChek states that it has contracts with 1,600 aged care facilities across three continents, with more than five million digital pain assessments conducted to date.
Hannah added: “Orchard strives to incorporate technological advances and put them into practice to ensure we are enabling all people living in our care homes to achieve good outcomes and be afforded equitable care regardless of their cognitive ability or ability to self-report health concerns such as pain.
“Individuals who are not able to effectively verbally communicate pain who were previously disadvantaged are now on an equal footing with those that can communicate effectively. The PainChek app has been pivotal to our ‘Dementia Promise’ and improving the overall wellbeing of many of the residents living in our homes.”
The Scottish Government continues to invest in Hospital at Home for Older People with £3.6 million allocated for 2024/25, bringing total funding allocation for the initiative to over £15 million since 2020.
