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Pain Management in Long-Term Care

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Handbook of Pain Relief in Older Adults

Part of the book series: Aging Medicine ((AGME))

Abstract

The importance of pain control in the geriatric patient population is now well recognized and has received increasing attention over the past 20 years. Growing interest and commitment by the medical community has lead to an advancing body of research and literature in this area. Nursing home patients represent a large and distinctive subset of the geriatric population whose pain issues have been previously overlooked. With the aging of the population, more elderly patients will reside in nursing homes in the future and estimates project that the number of ­nursing home residents will likely rise to greater than 5 million by the year 2040 [1]. In addition, it has been reported that 43% of adults 65 years and older will enter a nursing home some time before they die [2]. Some patients will stay only short term, while others will remain for years. Along with the expected increase in the nursing home population, the demographics are expected to change and include older and more disabled patients in the future [3].

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Correspondence to Susan L. Charette .

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Charette, S.L., Ferrell, B.A. (2011). Pain Management in Long-Term Care. In: Gloth, F. (eds) Handbook of Pain Relief in Older Adults. Aging Medicine. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-618-4_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-618-4_10

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-60761-617-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-60761-618-4

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