How to detect pain in seniors and people who need caregiving

If you're caring for an elderly person, be observant of their words and body language to detect pain problems.

Seniors and people who need care often have trouble finding words for their pain, so anyone looking after them needs to be something of a pain detective. Rather than using the word "pain", it is more helpful to describe a specific condition, says care scientist Thomas Fischer.

Questions like "Does anything hurt?" or "Is this unpleasant?" are useful options, Fischer suggests in the care specialist magazine Pflege und Familie.