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The assessment of pain in people with moderate to severe dementia presents unique challenges. Pain is a subjective experience, and its evaluation typically relies on patient self-report. However, dementia impairs ability to communicate verbally and to describe fluctuations in the pain experience. This presentation will outline a practical, clinically useful approach to assessing pain in this population. It will include a review of self-report methods suitable for individuals living with moderate dementia, followed by a discussion of observational tools appropriate for those with living with severe dementia. A clinical framework for pain assessment will be described, along with recent technological advances designed to facilitate pain evaluation in this population. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss clinically useful approaches to evaluating pain in people living with dementia.

Presenter: Dr. Thomas Hadjistavropoulos

Dr. Thomas Hadjistavropoulos, is Professor of Clinical Psychology and Research Chair in Aging and Health, University of Regina. He has served as President of the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), is a Registered Psychologist in Saskatchewan and British Columbia, and certified in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy by the Canadian Association of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies (CACBT). He is also certified as a Clinical Psychology Specialist by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) and maintains a small private practice. His research, has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, National Institutes of Health, Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the AGE-WELL Network, focuses on psychological issues in pain and on pain assessment. He received the CPA Hebb Prize for distinguished contributions to psychology as a science and distinguished career awards from the Canadian Pain Society, the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Society of Clinical Geropsychology, and the International Association for the Study of Pain’s Special Interest Group on Pain in Older Persons. Author of over 260 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, and seven books, he is Editor-in-Chief of Ethics & Behavior and a Fellow of the CPA, APA, CACBT, and Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.