Ingen Gissningslek

: En litteraturstudie om att bedöma smärta hos personer med demenssjukdom

Abstract

Background: The number of people with dementia is steadily increasing worldwide and since ageing is associated with pain it is likely that the number of people with dementia who are in pain also will increase. Dementia is a general term for diseases and injuries of the brain that involves decreases in memory function. People with dementia have, due to memory loss and communication problems, difficulty describing the pain. This may result in pain management not being optimal, in turn exposing this group of patients to unnecessary suffering. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe conditions that influenced nurses´ assessment of pain in people with dementia. Method: The method was a literature review based 12 qualitative and quantitative studies. Results: To identify pain in people with dementia nurses needed to have the ability to identify changes in behaviour and work evidence based. Other conditions that were considered important was that the nurse had a professional approach and the ability to create a professional relationship. Conclusion: It is possible to identify pain in people with dementia by nurses having time, knowledge, training and personal knowledge. However, further research regarding assessment instruments' usefulness in practical work is needed.