PRM Pain Research and Management 1203-6765 Pulsus Group Inc 347850 10.1155/1998/347850 Original Article Pain Research and Treatment in the Gerontological Context: A Discussion of the Issues Gibson Margaret C m.gibson@parkwood.london.on.ca Thomas Michael R Cook Andrew J 1 Veterans Care Program Parkwood Hospital London, Ontario Canada sjhc.london.on.ca 2 Department of Psychology University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada umanitoba.ca 3 Vancouver Pain Clinic Vancouver British Columbia Canada 1998 1 6 1998 3 2 91 96 30 10 1997 31 3 1998 1998 Copyright © 1998 Hindawi Publishing Corporation. This open-access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (CC BY-NC) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits reuse, distribution and reproduction of the article, provided that the original work is properly cited and the reuse is restricted to noncommercial purposes.

An appreciation of the context in which gerontological health care occurs is crucial to the successful and ethical collection, interpretation and utilization of data on the pain experiences of elderly people. Important contextual considerations for researchers and clinicians who are addressing pain in the elderly are identified. It is argued that topics that are the focus of current attention in the field of pain and ageing, such as the effect of dementia on memory for pain and the responsiveness of the elderly to psychosocial pain treatment, would be clarified by an understanding of the broader sociopolitical context in which ageing occurs.

 Elderly Memory Pain Treatment