Our group is internationally renowned for developing and validating innovative approaches to the pain assessment of older persons who present with dementias and serious limitations in ability to communicate.
As an example, the Pain Assessment Checklist for Seniors with Limited Ability to Communicate (PACSLAC), developed in the lab, has been translated in several languages and has been used around the world. As a second example, knowledge translation work has involved the development of a pain self-management program for seniors which has been made available through the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP).
This work is presented in a book published by IASP. We have also studied cognitive behavioural pain management interventions for older persons. Members of this cluster have been successful in attracting several million dollars of research funding in recent years.
Thomas Hadjistavropoulos, Ph.D., ABPP, FCAHS, Department of Psychology, University of Regina
Michelle Gagnon, Ph.D. University of Saskatchewan
Natasha Gallant, Ph.D, Department of Psychology, University of Regina
Abigail Wickson-Griffiths, Ph.D, Faculty of Nursing, University of Regina
Kylie Arsenault, Psychology
Louise Castillo, Psychology
Andy McLennan, Psychology
Rhonda Stopyn, Psychology
Vivian Tran, Psychology
Emily Winters, Psychology
Hadjistavropoulos, T. & Makris, U.E. (2022). Pain evaluation and management in patients with limited ability to communicate because of dementia. In H. T. Benzon, J. P. Rathmell, C. L. Wu, D.C. Turk, C.E. Argoff, R. Hurley, and A. L. Nicol (Editors), Practical management of pain (6th Edition), pp. 1052-1058, Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier.
Castillo, L. I. R., Hadjistavropoulos, T., & Brachaniec, M. (2021). The effectiveness of social media in the dissemination of knowledge about pain in dementia. Pain Medicine. 22, 2584–2596.
Guliani, H., Hadjistavropoulos, T., Jin, S. & Lix, L.M. (2021). Pain-related health care costs for long-term care residents. BMC Geriatrics, 552 (221). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-021-02424-
Stopyn, R., Hadjistavropoulos, T., & Loucks, J. (2021). An eye tracking investigation of pain decoding based on older and younger adults’ facial expressions. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 45, 31-52.
For more information, contact Cluster Leader Dr. Thomas Hadjistavropoulos at Thomas.Hadjistavropoulos@uregina.ca
Congratulations to #URegina psychology professor @DrThomasHadjist, recipient of the 2025 @cagacg Contribution to Gerontology Award!
Presented on Saturday in Montreal, the award honours outstanding contributions to the field of aging. 👏 #gerontology #research #congrats
Congratulations to my student @HaileyReimer on her presentation on validating synthetic images for use in development of automated pain expression detection algorithms #AGEWELL2025 @Babak_Taati @UofRAgingCentre @UofRegina
My student, @hailey_reimer1 presenting collaborative work with @Babak_Taati ‘s group at the @cagacg conference. Focus is on using synthetic images to train pain monitoring computer vision algorithms @UofRAgingCentre @UofRegina
Are you curious about how you can make your communities more age-friendly and accessible?
Join Age-Friendly Regina (AFR) on October 22nd, 2025, to hear about how AFR is influencing others in the community and how you can get involved!
Visit: https://lnkd.in/gqS_jVcg
🔁 ICYMI: Our webinar “Addressing Dementia in Canada: Raising Awareness, Challenging Stigma and Reducing Our Risk” is now available to watch on demand! 🎥🧠
Dementia is one of Canada’s most pressing public health challenges—and the NIA’s first report in our new three-part annual…
Age-Friendly Regina is a local organization launched in 2018 as part of a WHO initiative. The AFR Steering Committee invites all those interested to its upcoming Stakeholder Gathering.
Date: Wed. Oct. 22, 2025
Time: 1:30-3:30pm
Location: Glen Elm Branch, 1601 Dewdney Ave. E.
