[en] A phenomenological optical-model analysis of pion elastic scattering and single- and double-charge-exchange scattering to isobaric-analog states is reviewed. Interpretation of the optical-model parameters is briefly discussed, and several applications and extensions are considered. The applications include the study of various nuclear properties, including neutron deformation and surface-fluctuation contributions to the density. One promising extension for the near future would be to develop a microscopic approach based on powerful momentum-space methods brought to existence over the last decade. In this, the lowest-order optical potential as well as specific higher-order pieces would be worked out in terms of microscopic pion-nucleon and delta-nucleon interactions that can be determined within modern meson-theoretical frameworks. A second extension, of a more phenomenological nature, would use coupled-channel methods and shell-model wave functions to study dynamical nuclear correlations in pion double charge exchange. 35 refs., 11 figs., 1 tab