Growing old is a natural process and as such presents an unparalleled challenge for everyone. With continuous improvement in health-care services in the UK, residents are living longer. Consequently, the number of older adults who require care is dramatically increasing. Ageing brings complications and failing health, and many elderly people are living with one or more long-term medical conditions. The health and welfare of our family and friends are of paramount importance to us, and therefore it can be a tough decision to choose elderly care. Caring and maintaining a good quality of life for our loved ones and ourselves are lifelong tasks that can become increasingly demanding with age. The following outlined considerations are designed …show more content…
Elderly care is specialized care that is designed to meet the needs and requirements of senior citizens at various stages. As such, elderly care is comprised of everything from nursing care and assisted living to home care, adult day care, and even hospice care. Some adults never require any care to live independently in their later years but some others having challenges with activities of daily living (ADLs), such as cleaning, cooking, dressing, taking meds, shopping, driving, bathing, etc. will need some elderly …show more content…
Typically it is the Family members or a doctor who observes the changes in abilities and behaviours and consequently the need for elderly care. There are some warning signs your elderly friend or relative may display that may prompt you to seek outside help; Physical Problems are often introduced when individuals begin to age. Their bodies may become less resilient, more rigid, more fragile and they are unable to perform the normal activities they once could. A complete physical examination (including hearing and vision) on a regular basis is an essential part of an overall health plan, just because your loved one hasn’t reported a physical impairment doesn’t mean he or she doesn’t require care. Physical problems may manifest themselves in some ways such as Movement disorders, Chronic health conditions, permanent or temporal physical limitations that may inhibit their ability to perform ADLs, Confusion, Attention problems, Cognitive problems, Memory loss, Language problems,
Long-term care (LTC) covers a wide range of clinical and social services for those who need assistance due to functional limitations. These limitations usually result from complications associated with age related chronic conditions, from disabilities related to birth defects, brain damage, or mental retardation in children; or from major illnesses or injuries suffered by adults (Shi L. & Singh D.A., 2011). LTC encompasses a variety of services including traditional clinical services, social services and housing. Unlike acute care, long-term care is much more complicated and has objectives that are much harder to measure. Acute care mainly focuses on returning patients to their previous functional level and is primarily provided by specialty providers. However, LTC mainly focuses on preventing the physical and mental deterioration of an individual and promoting social adjustments to suit the different stages of decline. In addition the providers of LTC are more diverse than those in acute care and is offered in both formal and informal settings, which include: hospitals, physicians, home care, adult day care, nursing home care, assisted living and even informal caregivers such as friends and family members. Long-term care services have been dominated by community based services, which include informal care (86%, about 10 to 11 million) and formal institutional care delivered in nursing facilities (14%, 1.6 million) (McCall, 2001). Of more than the 10 million Americans estimated to require LTC services, 58% are elderly and 42% are under the age of 65 (Shi L. & Singh D.A., 2011). The users of LTC are either frail elderly or disabled and because of the specific care needs of this population, the care varies based on an indiv...
Every older people suffering from dementia or any mental illness should contribute to decision-making process if able on about the services the resident gets and is empowered to practice choice and control over his or her way of life. Healthcare professionals need to offer residents with dementia significant parts in making their own particular care plans. We should give the majority of the residents as much decision as possible around both their care and environment.
Long-term health care consists of personal medical, and social services rendered to elders with chronic indispositions. These types of services are carried out through several different means, such as nursing homes, home health care, and respite care. The focus on long-term care is to provide an environment assisting with treatments plans, personal up keep and rehabilitation. As the largest part of our growing population reaches retirement age, several new questions and issues have arose. Financially, long term health has is an ever growing concern of the elder population and those who have accepted the financial burden. A large portion of the economy struggles with the cost of the ever rising prices of health care. The economy has been hindered with financial difficulty and it has had several implications on the ways we spend our money. For some of the baby boomers, it has left them with no choice but to continue to work in order to provide. For others, it has left them no option but to live with family members or seek assistants elsewhere. Income has evolved into a stressor for elders planning retirement.
Taking care of the individuals that are getting older takes many different needs. Most of these needs cannot be given from the help of a family. This causes the need of having to put your love one into a home and causing for the worry of how they will be treated. It is important for the family and also the soon to be client to feel at home in their new environment. This has been an issue with the care being provided for each individual, which has lead to the need of making sure individuals have their own health care plan.
Another focus for change is that over the years the demand for home and community care over hospital care has continued to grow, as stated by the Queens nursing institute “Recent health policy points to the importance of improving and extending services to meet the health and care needs of an increasingly older population and provide services which may have previously been provided in hospital within community settings”.
...6 in 2050” (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2012, p. 15). Comparatively, in 1900 the average life expectancy was 47 (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2012, p. 15). This is relevant with regards to ageism in that the need for trained health care professionals in the field of gerontology will be astounding, but because of the current perceptions of older adults there is a gross lack of these specialty providers. “It has been estimated that by 2030, 3.5 million formal health care providers-a 35 percent increase from current levels-will be needed just to maintain the current ratio of providers to the total population” (Ferrini & Ferrini, 2013, p, 15). The prediction is that all health care providers will spend at least 50 percent of their time working with older adults; increased competency while eliminating ageist attitudes is paramount for quality health care (Ferrini & Ferrini, 2013, p. 15).
Upon growing older there are many decisions to be made. Among one of the most difficult and perhaps most important decisions is where the elder person will live and how long-term care needs will be met when he/she is no longer capable of doing so independently due to the incapacity that accompanies many with old age. Nursing homes seem to be the popular choice for people no matter the race, gender, or socioeconomic status with 1.5 million Americans being admitted to them yearly.[3] Because nursing homes are in such a high demand and are not cheap, $77.9 billion was spent for nursing home care in the United States in 2010 alone, they are under criticism of many professions including the legal profession, which is in the process of establishing elder law as a defense to issues with in the elder community. Nursing homes have a duty to provide many things to the elderly including medical, social, pharmaceutical, and dietary services so that the individual may maintain the highest well-being possible.[4] Stated another way 'a nursing facility must care for its residents in such a manner and in such an environment as will promote maintenance or enhancement of the q...
Many people confuse nursing homes with assisted living facilities, but there are several important differences between them. There is a very thin border, which separates the nursing homes from the assisted living facilities. The primary purpose of both of them is to provide medical care and assistance to the residents. However, there is a difference in the level of care provided in each of them, their eligibility criteria, privacy provided, their cost of living, amenities, social activities, and the coverage by the insurance.
The long-term care system consists of an integrated continuum of many institutional and non-institutional providers who deliver extended care when needed. Long-term care providers deliver a variety of care to individuals with chronic, mobility and/or cognitive impairments/limitations. These providers include: nursing facilities, sub acute care, assisted living, residential care, elderly housing options and community based adult services (Pratt, 2010). A great majority of these providers are already taking care of the many baby boomers that are present today and will be present in the future. “Baby boomers” are individuals who were born between the years 1946-1964. Since 2011, every day 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 years old (Pratt, 2010). This
There are changes in the demographic as the population grows older, the number of older adult’s increases and thus, there is an increase of proportion of patients that are older adults for nurses to take care of (Wells, Y., Foreman, P., Gething, L., & Petralia, W., 2004). The nurses are there to assist and support the older adults in achieving wellness within their situation through empowering the clients (Touhy, et al (2012). Caring for older adults is important as there is an increase in population with deteriorating health. When caring for a client it is important to incorporate Jean Watson’s caring theories and Carative Factors to help influence and support the care. She encourages nurses to co-participate within the caring process by establishing unity and trust between the nurse and client. First, this paper will explain a situation in where I cared for an older adult and it will then introduce Jean Watson’s lower order needs, specifically the need for activity and how it relates to the older adult I cared for. Lastly, this paper will explain the nursing interventions I implemented to meet the lower order need, with a discussion of Carative Factor #4 relating to the client.
Our current health care system is already overwhelmed by the influx of older patients. If we do not take action now to remedy this shortage, we will jeopardize the future of our aging society’s health. Elder Workforce Alliance urges action for federally mandated requirements of geriatric training in all health professions, positive working conditions for healthcare providers devoted to elder care and redesigns of healthcare delivery models to achieve higher quality of care for geriatric patients.
Darby, S. Marr, J. Crump, A Scurfield, M (1999) Older People, Nursing & Mental Health. Oxford: Buterworth-Heinemann.
Kick, Ella. "Overview: Health Care and the Aging Population: What Are Today's Challenges?" The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. N.p., n.d. Web.
Today, the world’s population is aging at a very fast pace and the United States is no exception to this demographic change. According to the U.S Census Bureau, senior citizens will account for 21% of the American population in 2050 (Older Americans, 2012). Although living longer lives may not seem like a negative sign, living longer does not necessarily mean living healthier. Older adults of today are in need of long-term health care services more than any generation before them (Older Americans, 2012). Because of the growing need for senior care, millions of families are facing critical decisions on how to provide care for their parents.
Many countries globally are faced with unprecedented demographic changes from high mortality and fertility to low mortality and fertility, giving rise to an ageing population. Population ageing is profound and enduring, and has major consequences and implications for all facets of human life. With a larger proportion of older people, one of the major concerns is health care. The health of older persons generally declines with age and some illness are more likely to be associated with older people. One of such illness is dementia. As the life expectancies of the general population have dramatically increased since the turn of the century, more and more people are at risk of developing dementia (National Institute of Aging, 2000).