Concept of Long-Term Care - Essay Example

Long-Term Care Affiliation: Did this week’s readings change your concept of long-term care? If so, how has it changed? My concept of long-term care was changed once I read the articles by Singh and Evashwick. This is because I have come to realize that people in need of long-term care are more “special” than the rest of the individuals because of their various forms of inability to care for themselves. The old people for instance have most of their body functions and movements slowed down by the age and hence require round-the clock watch to ensure they lack nothing and they get all the support they require (Singh 2010).

The two articles have also changed my concept and I have come to realize that they can be given insurance, do not have to kept at home but have special institutions with all the facilities and equipment necessary to provide the long-term care and hence these individuals are no longer a burden to their families as my earlier concept was. This information has widened my knowledge on such individuals and I have also learnt the basic steps to care for the different individuals requiring different kind of long-term care (Evashwick & Riedel 2004).2. Provide two examples of current events related to long-term care.

How might these examples increase awareness of long-term care? Medicaid has been on a nationwide campaign urging American citizens to start thinking and planning for their future long-term care needs and requirements and start making early plans about it to avoid burdening their family and the government later on. This is a campaign like that of retirement funds but aims at reducing the dependency levels of long-term care patients on especially their families.The other event is that the government has insurance for individuals requiring long-term care from poor homes to access basic care services like nursing at a little or no fee at all depending on the state.

This insurance requires family members to register their long-term care patient and then after a background search, then the individual is granted the insurance (Cackley 2010).3. What are three long-term care populations evident in your local community? Were you aware of these? One of the populations is the elderly who are categorized into two groups: those between 65 and 84 years and those above 85years. These two groups of individuals require long-term care at different levels. The other category is those individuals with disabilities who according to Medicaid require up to 19% of the Medicaid funds located for Virginia.

Lastly, the other population includes individuals with chronic illnesses ranging from cancer to HIV/AIDS. These individuals also require long-term care and end up spending a lot of their family’s wealth in the care provision.This last category I was not aware of until I conducted research on how the Medicaid money is distributed in Virginia. The other two populations are however known because they are easily seen in neighborhoods and hence easily identifiable unlike those with chronic illnesses because they are mostly confined at home or in special institutions like hospices (Williamson 2009).

As a result of the help majority of these people are receiving from Medicaid and other institutions that are accredited with dealing with such individuals, the burden to the family has been drastically reduced.ReferencesCackley, A. P. (2010). Medicaid: State and Federal Actions Have Been Taken to Improve Childrens Access to Dental Services But Gaps Remain. New York: DIANE Publishing.Evashwick, C., & Riedel, J. (2004). Managing long-term care. Washington, DC: Association of University Programs in Health Administration.Singh, D. A., (2010). Effective management of long-term care facilities (2nd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

Williamson, R. (2009). VA Health Care: Long-Term Care Strategic Planing and Budgeting Need Improvement. New York: DIANE Publishing.