The Sole Indexicality of Pain: How Attitudes Towards the Elderly Erect Barriers to Pain Management

30 Pages Posted: 20 Jan 2007

See all articles by Daniel Goldberg

Daniel Goldberg

East Carolina University - School of Medicine

Date Written: Jan. 15, 2006

Abstract

No one believes that the elderly are not entitled to adequate pain management. Yet the evidence shows that the elderly generally do not receive adequate pain management. This paper attempts to address this phenomenon through an interdisciplinary approach. The thesis is that because pain is solely indexical, that is, that it cannot be confirmed through objective diagnostic instrumentation, social and historical attitudes towards the elderly are largely responsible for shaping and informing treatment modalities to pain management. This paper examines these forces, as well as the legal and regulatory barriers to providing adequate pain management for the elderly. The paper concludes that a shift in attitudes is the most promising means to ameliorating the severity of the problem.

Keywords: Indexicality, pain, pain management, elderly, attitudes, interdisciplinary, regulatory, barriers

Suggested Citation

Goldberg, Daniel, The Sole Indexicality of Pain: How Attitudes Towards the Elderly Erect Barriers to Pain Management (Jan. 15, 2006). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=957816 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.957816

Daniel Goldberg (Contact Author)

East Carolina University - School of Medicine ( email )

600 Moye Boulevard
Greenville, NC 27858
United States

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