Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of PainChek® in UK Aged Care Residents with advanced dementia.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to further validate PainChek®, an electronic pain assessment instrument, with a population living with dementia in a UK care home. METHOD: This study utilised a correlational design to evaluate the psychometric properties of PainChek® when compared to the Abbey Pain Scale (APS). Blinded paired pain assessments were completed at rest and immediately post-movement by a researcher and a nurse. A total of 22 participants with a diagnosis of moderate-to-severe dementia and a painful condition were recruited using opportunity sampling. RESULTS: Overall, 302 paired assessments were collected for 22 participants. Out of these 179 were conducted during rest and 123 were immediately post-movement. The results demonstrated a positive significant correlation between overall PainChek® pain scores and overall APS pain scores (r = 0.818, N = 302, p < .001, one-tailed), satisfactory internal consistency (α = 0.810), moderate single measure intraclass correlation (ICC = 0.680) and substantial inter-rater agreement (κ = 0.719). CONCLUSIONS: PainChek® has demonstrated to be a valid and reliable instrument to assess the presence and severity of pain in people with moderate-to-severe dementia living in aged care.

Discovering the memory thief: MOOC participants' personal experiences of dementia.

Dementia is one of the greatest social issues of our time. There are brief explorations of experiences of dementia in the literature, however this study seeks to further explore the experiences of the general public in relation to dementia. This study aimed to characterise experiences of dementia in the general population. This characterisation was achieved by developing and opening a massive open online course on dementia, which collected information from participants who responded to the question "share your own personal experience of dementia". This data was then analysed by two researchers using Framework Analysis. Four themes (the condition, caring, perception, and control) and indicative quotes are presented and discussed. Experiences of dementia are positive as well as negative. Findings update understanding of these experiences and demonstrate new insights.