Adapting to chronic pain: A focused ethnography of black older adults.
Sheria G Robinson-Lane
PMID 31481258WHAT IT FOUND
Black older adults with daily pain said staying positive, keeping active, engaging with others, praying, and relying on family helped them cope. 86% reported severe pain, but they rarely talked about pain directly.
Key findings
01Most survey participants reported severe pain, and interviewees described coping by staying positive, keeping active, engaging with others, praying, and relying on family or friends.
02Participants said talking about pain was not something they did often, and pain conversations usually concerned medications or treatments that had helped other people.
03Faith was common in the group, with about 74 percent identifying as Christian and prayer or meditation described as helping manage daily stressors.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The interview themes came from 20 selected residents who reported moderate to severe pain and were considered good reporters, so they may not represent all Black older adults with pain. The work was done in one public-housing facility, so findings may not apply to other communities, housing settings, or people with different resources. The study described experiences and self-rated health scores; it did not test whether any coping strategy reduced pain or improved function. Nurses were not mentioned by participants as primary interventionists, but the paper does not describe formal nursing care assessments, so this may reflect visibility of nursing roles rather than absence of nursing care. Self-reported pain and health may be affected by difficulty expressing pain concerns in ways providers believe, which the paper notes as a challenge for Black older adults.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these coping strategies as proven treatments. The study reports what participants said and did, but it did not compare groups or test whether any strategy reduced pain or improved quality of life.