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Related Experiment Videos

Is pain suffering? A case study.

Helen K Black1

  • 1Thomas Jefferson University, Center for Applied Research on Aging and Health, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA. helen.black@jefferson.edu

International Journal of Aging & Human Development
|March 30, 2007
PubMed
Summary

This study explores how elderly individuals perceive pain and suffering, finding these experiences are distinct and shaped by personal meaning. Qualitative narrative research effectively captures these complex, lived experiences in aging.

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Area of Science:

  • Gerontology
  • Medical Sociology
  • Qualitative Research

Background:

  • Pain and suffering are significant aspects of the aging experience.
  • Medicalization of suffering often overlooks individual meaning and context.
  • Qualitative narrative research offers a method to explore lived experiences.

Observation:

  • A case study of an elderly woman illustrates the complex interplay of pain and suffering.
  • The woman's narrative distinguished between pain and suffering as separate, context-dependent experiences.
  • Her perception of pain shifted based on the meaning she ascribed to surrounding circumstances.

Findings:

  • Bodily pain and suffering are not merely subjective/objective facets of an event but distinct, emergent constructs.
  • Meaning imputed to an event significantly influences the experience of pain and suffering.
  • Suffering in aging, though medicalized, resists simple categorization and medical intervention.

Implications:

  • Qualitative narrative methods are well-suited for understanding the lived experience of pain and suffering in older adults.
  • Healthcare approaches should consider the personal meaning individuals ascribe to their pain and suffering.
  • The study highlights the limitations of medicalization in fully addressing the complexities of suffering in aging.

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