Local care homes embrace technology to help manage their residents’ pain

In a new video from the Digitising Social Care programme at Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Health and Care Partnership, local care home staff explain how facial recognition app PainChek is helping them to provide better care for their residents.

Installed on a care home’s mobile phone or tablet device, PainChek recognises facial expressions and uses artificial intelligence (AI) to assess pain levels before quantifying a pain score which carers can use to inform their decision about appropriate support.

This is particularly useful for vulnerable residents who are unable to express themselves verbally, due to illness or disability. It enables staff to take more accurate and consistent pain assessments, leading to more informed pain management decisions.

As of March 2025, more than 11,300 PainChek assessments have been completed with a total of 582 residents across 22 different care locations. Staff from two local care homes have shared their experiences in this new video (also below).

Claire Course, senior care assistant at Oak Manor Care Home in Shefford, said: “We use PainChek daily – sometimes during medication rounds where people request pain relief.  One gentleman in particular was in quite a bit of pain.  We’ve got him on the right pain relief now and his challenging behaviour doesn’t come out half as much.  It’s a confidence booster because you’ve got that evidence to say that person is in pain, go with your gut instinct.”

Marta Kozowy, deputy manager and registered nurse at Anjulita Court Care Home in Bedford, said: “With PainChek, we are able to treat residents holistically. So if there is distressed behaviour, signs of infection, we can spot symptoms of pain early, implement pain relief as soon as possible, and monitor the effectiveness.  We can reassure the families that the relative is comfortable, free from pain.”

Drew Hunt, senior marketing officer at PainChek, explained: “We know from research that if somebody’s experiencing pain they’re more likely to fall, and then they’re more likely to experience an injury.  So not only is PainChek beneficial in terms of improving somebody’s quality of life and level of comfort, it could lead to much wider clinical outcomes.”

For more information about all of the tools and systems available to adult social care from Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Health and Care Partnership’s Digitising Social Care programme, please visit https://www.blmkhealthandcarepartnership.org/digitising-social-care-disc-programme.