Dovehaven improves resident wellbeing whilst driving down pain
Dovehaven Care Homes is a leading care group in the Northwest of England. It offers a wide range of care services for older adults specialising in residential and nursing care with an emphasis on high quality dementia and complex care. It has 23 care homes in total and looks after 1,183 people.
With dementia high on its strategic priorities, Dovehaven knew that pain was a challenge to accurately assess and therefore treat. The management of pain is particularly challenging in people living with dementia as a person’s ability to reliably self-report their pain experience can decline as their condition progresses. This led to them implementing PainChek across all of its services.
During the period of July to December 2024, Dovehaven completed over 165,000 pain assessments using PainChek. This enabled a higher quality of pain data to enable the provider to optimise the care of its residents, whilst improving their wellbeing.
By effectively assessing pain, Dovehaven was able to optimise the management of pain which saw a 67% reduction in severe pain, a 42% reduction in moderate pain and a 25% reduction in mild pain.
“I have been fortunate working for Dovehaven to achieve a career ambition to review and support teams to improve pain management in a social care environment. Since implementation of PainChek across all Dovehaven Care Homes we have seen a transformation in relation to pain management which has significantly reduced distressed reaction behaviours and PRN Benzodiazepine use .” – Jo Hadfield-Cubbin – Head of Clinical Governance
As a result of optimising pain management, and reducing the pain burden across its services, Dovehaven has also seen a 41% reduction in instances of distress and a 58% reduction in resident-to-resident altercations. These altercations require a significant amount of resource in response to investigate the cause, amend care plans accordingly and report safeguarding referrals as required. This process is incredibly important, however incredibly resource intensive, taking away time that could be better spent with residents providing meaningful activity.
“Dovehaven’s ability to reduce pain across its estate of care homes has brought immense benefits for its residents, staff and the quality of care the provider is able to achieve. The reduction of resident-to-resident altercations is significant. These incidents can not only be distressing for those directly involved, but also to other residents in the nearby vicinity who may not know what has happened and why. These changes are profound and ensure the overall improvement in peoples experiences in care.” – Tandeep Gill, PainChek.
Following the reduction of distress incidents, the necessity to use Benzodiazepines has also reduced. 40% fewer Benzodiazepines are currently being used across Dovehaven’s residents.
Where possible, Benzodiazepines should be avoided for older people as they are associated with well documented negative side effects, such as the increase in falls and fall related fractures. They can also be associated with increased cognitive decline for people living with dementia. Research from the National Library of Medicine also suggests that there are several factors to indicate that benzodiazepines can increase the risk of pneumonia and supress the immune function. Combined, these negative side effects paint a concerning picture for older people living in care, as more than 28% of residents in care homes have 1 or more prescriptions for benzodiazepines.
This emphasis on improved identification and management of pain illustrates the broader and far-reaching improvements in quality that can be achieved.
