Lucia Gagliese

Research Synopsis

Dr. Gagliese's lab’s primary research interest is pain and aging. One major focus is age-related patterns in cancer pain. Her lab is following younger and older women with breast cancer for two years following diagnosis to identify biopsychosocial predictors and mediators of the development, trajectory and impact of pain and disability.  They are also examining age-related patterns in the impact of pain associated with advanced cancer, including impacts on marital relationships. Other projects include validating pain scales and indices of analgesic adequacy for cancer pain across the adult lifespan. 

Another major research focus is pain at the end of life in older people with delirium.  They are developing the first observational pain tool specifically for these patients. They are also interested in how healthcare workers decide whether a patient with delirium is experiencing pain and the role of delirium presentation and patient and healthcare worker characteristics in these decisions. This information will improve pain assessment and management in the last days of life, which our research has shown is often inadequate.

The third major research focus is beliefs and knowledge about pain and aging among healthcare workers and older people.  They have developed an educational intervention which improves some of the most common knowledge gaps.  They are conducting a learning needs assessment with community stakeholders to refine and expand the intervention.  Another project focuses on healthcare workers’ beliefs about cancer pain in older people, including those with delirium.  We are developing the first measure of these beliefs and are conducting narrative-based research about older people with cancer pain and delirium.  This work will inform future pain education initiatives. 

Dr. Gagliese's research is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute and York University.