A care home pilot in Scotland has seen the number of pain assessments carried out on residents increase by 100%.

The trial of PainChek digital pain assessment technology is being trialled at Abbeydale Court in Hamilton – part of care home group Abbey Healthcare.  

Grace Sloan, home manager at Abbeydale Court, said: “We are thrilled with the initial outcomes of our PainChek pilot and the benefits the technology is bringing to our residents and care team so far.  

“A resident was showing distressed behaviours and pain was initially suspected as the cause. Using PainChek, we were able to rule pain out and investigate other potential causes of distress whilst continuing to monitor pain. We have been able to focus on supporting the resident through positive, personalised interventions, including noise therapy and regular observations, addressing the underlying physical contributory factors causing their distress.”

To date, 424 pain assessments have been completed at Abbeydale Court, with 11 carers regularly conducting the assessments. Of these, 95% of follow-up assessments were conducted within 24 hours of the initial assessment, representing a marked improvement in the monitoring of pain. In addition, Abbeydale Court has been able to identify its overall pain burden (18%), providing an accurate measure of pain and relevant documentation to base clinical decisions around.

The pilot follows hot on the heels of the Care Inspectorate’s endorsement of PainChek as part of its Quality Improvement Plan for 2023/4. The initial pilot phase saw PainChek trialled in a small number of Scottish care homes and linked to a 42% reduction in falls among residents in six months. A second-phase funded PainChek pilot has now commenced across 15 care homes in Scotland.