Accounts of pain experience in an elderly care context

Authors

  • Ulla Hellström Muhli PhD, BSc, RT, BScSW (Senior Lecturer in Caring Science)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/cam.v7i1.55

Keywords:

Accounts, Discourse, Elderly, Communicative activity, Pain, Social death

Abstract

The main concern was to show how a discourse and communication based approach in the context of the care of elderly, provides a basis for reflecting on pain. Based on six hours of recorded, transcribed and translated data from talk encounters between care professionals /elderly clients, an activity analysis of institutional settings and categorization of interactional discourse was made. There was a twofold focus: how elderly people initiate painful accounts, and how the professionals orient to such accounts. The pain-talks are governed by the institutional practice of phases: framing mapping troubles and symptoms, clients self presentations, counseling, and concluding. This structure shows the dialogical accounts as a communicative activity (type) of pain talk. A thematic interactional map of critical moments related to pain as 1) social death and hope, 2) and presentation of self as past and self as present, was achieved. The elderly talk about pain as an identity construction. Pain is a link between past, present and future identity. It is suggested that the caring aspect of professional skills is to support hope and to change the focus from social death to life and recovering.

Author Biography

  • Ulla Hellström Muhli, PhD, BSc, RT, BScSW (Senior Lecturer in Caring Science)
    Ulla Hellström Muhli is Senior Lecturer of Caring Science at the University of Skövde, Sweden. She has a background qualification in social work and elderly care. She received her PhD in Health Care Pedagogy from the Göteborg University 2003. Her thesis was entitled: Bridging Perspectives, - A study of Need Assessment Dialogues in elderly oriented Social Work. (2003). Göteborg: Acta Gothuburgensis. pdf https://gupea.ub.gu.se/dspace/handle/2077/8473?mode=full&submit_simple=Visa Her research is in the analysis of professional/institutional and professional/client discourse, particularly in the domains och elderly care. She is Programme Director of a new Masters in The Health of Elderly and Caring and from the autum of 2009 also commissioned by the University to lead the work of developing the 4th Research Centre at the University of Skövde, within the research area of Health and Wellbeing. She is also a member of The KIVOS- network for research on Health, Social Care and Social Work Discourse, http://www.his.se/hogskolan/kontakt/personal/ulla-hellstrom-muhli/natverk-kivos/ Adress for correspondence: University of Skövde School of Life Sciences Box 408 SE-541 28 Skövde, Sweden. E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

Published

2010-10-23

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Hellström Muhli, U. (2010). Accounts of pain experience in an elderly care context. Communication and Medicine, 7(1), 55-64. https://doi.org/10.1558/cam.v7i1.55