Older African Americans' Beliefs about Pain, Biomedicine, and Spiritual Medicine.

Persistent (chronic) pain prompts older African Americans (AAs) to utilize a combination of biomedicine (BM) and spiritual medicine (SM)for pain management. Because less is known about how older AAs use these pain management interventions, healthcare providers are unable to provide holistic care and optimal pain management. Using a Christian and Afrocentric perspective, this article reviews older AAs use of BM and SM, offering reconmendations on how to integrate BM and SM for pain management.