My primary research focus is on issues related to
chronic pain and chronic illness, such as nursing management of demented
patients with chronic pain from osteoarthritis. I am currently funded by
the College of Nursing to investigate the impact of exercise on pain and
sleep in elders with osteoarthritis and the possible objective measure of
pain. Many demented patients suffer from chronic pain that may exacerbate
existing cognitive impairment and lead to further suffering. Inability to
communicate pain poses great difficulty for pain management in demented
patients, therefore, their pain tends to be under-treated. Since pain
management depends on adequate pain assessment, it is necessary to find a
valid tool to accurately assess pain in demented elders.
Musculoskeletal complaints, e.g. arthritis, account for most of the
pain complaints in the nursing home demented patients. Finding an
appropriate intervention to reduce their musculoskeletal pain complaint
will benefit many demented patients in nursing homes.
Due to the fact that women in their mid 40 begin to show some symptom
of osteoarthritis, my future research will focus more on the intervention
for middle age women with osteoarthritis. Appropriate nursing intervention
in the early stage of osteoarthritis will slow the disease progression and
prevent them to develop pain and disability in the future.
