How can effective Pain Management deliver outcomes for people living with dementia
Lunchtime Sessions 1
17 November, 2026 1:20 – 2:05 pmElectronic Posters
Khush Najran
Head of Operations – UK
PainChek
Summary
Effective pain management is essential for improving outcomes for people living with dementia. However, pain is often under-recognised and undertreated because cognitive decline and communication difficulties can make discomfort harder to identify and report (Ingelson et al., 2024). When pain is missed, it may appear as behavioural and psychological symptoms (BPSD) such as agitation, aggression, withdrawal, or reduced engagement. This can increase distress and reduce quality of life. Growing evidence shows a clear association between untreated pain and behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, including agitation and depression (Shi et al., 2025). These findings highlight the need to view behavioural change not only as a feature of dementia, but also as a possible sign of unmet pain needs.
Structured multidimensional pain assessments are therefore a key part of good dementia care. Tools such as PainChek can help healthcare teams identify pain more consistently, especially in people who are unable to communicate it verbally. Recent evidence shows that PainChek has strong reliability and validity in detecting pain in people with moderate-to-severe dementia, supporting more confident clinical decision-making and earlier intervention (Pu et al., 2025; Sampson et al., 2025). Timely intervention is equally important. Effective pain management often combines pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies, including physical support, environmental adjustment, psychosocial approaches, and close observation of individual responses. Clinical trial evidence shows that structured pain treatment protocols can reduce agitation in people with dementia by around 17%, showing the direct impact pain management can have on behavioural outcomes (Husebo et al., 2011). Overall, this presentation will show that improving pain assessment and management should be a core part of dementia care, with the potential to improve comfort, dignity, and day-to-day wellbeing through more responsive and person-centred practice.