The project will report the results of the design and testing of an intervention to be used to assess and treat pain in community dwelling elders with dementia. An adaptation of the Serial Trial Intervention (STI) designed by Christine Kovach (2005) to assess and treat pain in elderly nursing home residents will be used. The intervention will be designed for use in a day center that is part of a local program that provides health and social services to low-income community dwelling elders. This is a two-phase project that will begin with making the necessary adaptations in the STI to make it appropriate for use in the community followed by pilot testing of the intervention. This is a sub-project of my overall Chiron project which is to develop a new program of research in the area of pain and community dwelling elders.

Kovach, C.R., Noonan, P.E., Reynolds, S. & Schlidt, A.M. (2005). The Serial Trial Intervention (STI) Teaching Manual. Milwaukee: University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.