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Volume 7 Journal of Pain & Relief
ISSN: 2167-0846 Pain Management 2018
October 11-12, 2018
October 11-12, 2018 | Zurich, Switzerland
7th International Conference and Exhibition on
Pain Research and Management
Peer volunteerism: Does it help in managing pain?
Mimi M Y Tse
Hong Kong Academy of Nursing, Hong Kong
Background: Chronic non-cancer pain is common among older adults and is often associated with significant physical and
psychosocial incapacities. Older adults with pain are more depressed, anxious, and have reduced social interaction. Pain in
older adults tends to be constant in nature, moderate to severe in intensity, and years long in duration. Prevalence of pain
among nursing home residents is as high as 70%-80%. Nursing home residents are physically frail, live in closed nursing home
environments, and may have difficulty seeking pain management strategies.
Aim: To recruit and train peer volunteers (PVs) to lead pain management program targeting the older adults living in nursing
homes
Design: A pre-post experimental study
Method: A total of 45 peer volunteers were recruited from the Institute of Active Ageing, hosted by the Faculty of Health and
Social Sciences of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in the past few years. They completed the pain management training
and visited older adults living in nursing homes that suffered from chronic pain. The pain management education program
included physical exercises, interactive teaching and sharing of pain management using non-pharmacological strategies.
Results: The pain management program helped the nursing home residents to learn ways to soothe the pain, reduce the pain
intensity, enhance activity of daily living, and increase happiness. Peer volunteers showed a significant increase in self-rated
pain management knowledge.
Conclusion: Findings of this study indicate that education on pain self-management is essential. Due to the limited health care
resources and budgets, training of laypersons provides an opportunity for them to transfer pain self-management knowledge
to nursing home residents.
J Pain Relief 2018, Volume 7
DOI: 10.4172/2167-0846-C1-021