A Script for Nursing Intervention on Elderly People with Chronic Pain by Telephone Consultation

Chronic pain is a true problem for, at least, 50% of the elderly people. However, chronic pain in the elderly people is an undertreated and medically devalued situation, since only 20% of those persons take analgesic therapy. Guidelines for nursing intervention on elderly people with chronic pain in medical consultation made by phone have been also omitted from the literature, namely, guidelines supported on a partnership model with the elderly people and family where the Foucault’s concept of Care of the Self is considered. A script for a systematic nursing intervention based on a partnership model that emphasizes the Care of the Self and help the elderly people continuing its project of live was developed and used in the Multidisciplinary Pain Center of a Portuguese’s Hospital. The information collected contributed to a better understanding of the difficulties that the elderly people have to manage therapeutic plans, namely the complex ones, and improved the adherence to analgesic therapy, minimizing the chronic pain and the functionality of elderly people.