This course is available as a standalone CE course or as an elective for our new Advanced Practice Certification.

Ever heard: “I hurt because I have arthritis!” Is it true? This idea that the health (and age) of our tissues is correlated to pain is fundamentally flawed. If this was the case, then only older patients should hurt and younger patients should not hurt! This misbelief and self-limiting perception powerfully impact the experience of pain and outlook for older adults. As the United States population ages, and physical therapy take its rightful place in the assessment and treatment of older adults, we must reevaluate our pain paradigms in the elderly. It is overwhelmingly shown that older patients do hurt, but not because they are old, but because they stop moving. Fear-avoidance and pain catastrophizing, powerfully driven by these misbeliefs regarding aging powerfully limits movement. Recent pain neuroscience education (PNE) research has shown that normalizing pain beliefs, including the role of aging and pain, powerfully influences movement, pain and disability – even in older adults. In this lecture we will explore the myth of aging and pain, evolution and evidence for PNE and showcase how various ready-to-use metaphors can help older adults understand pain better and facilitate much-needed movement.

Course Outcomes