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An exploration of the use of visually appealing contexts in a pain management program

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Key summary points

AbstractSection Aim

The aim of the study was to explore the use of visually appealing contexts in a pain management program for older adults with chronic pain.

AbstractSection Findings

The participants stated that photographs of family members, homes, and natural scenery made them feel relaxed and happy, and reminded them of past happy times. They preferred to view those visually appealing pictures using digital devices (iPad/iPhone) to seeing hard copy versions.

AbstractSection Message

The participants’ feedback was taken into consideration when designing the pain management program involving the use of visually appealing contexts.

Abstract

Purpose

Pleasant pictures can help to reduce stress, promote positive feelings, and even facilitate recovery from diseases. Visual stimulation is an approach of distraction that can effectively reduce pain thresholds and increase pain tolerances. The number of older adults who suffer from pain has increased due to age-related diseases. Technology is increasingly being applied to the management of acute pain. The pain situation among older people was explored in this study, and a visually appealing pain management program was designed with the participants’ experiences in mind.

Methods

This was a descriptive observational study. Participants were recruited from local nursing homes.

Results

A total of 165 older adults joined the study. The mean age of the participants was 85.6. More female than male participants experienced pain and the intensity of their pain was significantly greater. The results showed no significant differences in pain interferences between males and females. The participants stated that photographs of family members, homes, and natural scenery made them feel relaxed and happy, and reminded them of past happy times. They preferred to view those visually appealing pictures using digital devices (iPad/iPhone) to seeing hard copy versions.

Conclusion

A digital-based pain management program using visually appealing contexts for older adults can be implemented. The patients’ experiences were collected and will be considered when developing a future program.

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Funding

This research was funded by the Health and Medical Research Fund of the Food and Health Bureau, Hong Kong SAR Government (Ref. 15161051).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Mimi Mun Yee Tse, Paul Hong Lee, Yajie Li & Shuk Kwan Tang

  2. Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Shamay S. M. Ng

  3. Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Xue Bai

  4. Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Shatin Hospital, Hospital Authority, Ma On Shan, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Raymond Lo

  5. Department of Human Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Suey Shuk Yu Yeung

Authors
  1. Mimi Mun Yee Tse
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  2. Shamay S. M. Ng
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  3. Xue Bai
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  4. Paul Hong Lee
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  5. Raymond Lo
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  7. Yajie Li
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  8. Shuk Kwan Tang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mimi Mun Yee Tse.

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Conflict of interest

There are no conflicts of interest to report with regard to this work.

Ethical approval

Ethical approval to conduct the study was obtained from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. (Reference Number: HSEARS20171218005).

Informed consent

Human participants were involved in this study, and their written consent was collected before the commencement of the study.

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Tse, M.M.Y., Ng, S.S.M., Bai, X. et al. An exploration of the use of visually appealing contexts in a pain management program. Eur Geriatr Med 11, 821–827 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-020-00339-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-020-00339-6

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