Health Prevention and Promotion on Older Adult - Essay Example

Health Prevention and Promotion on Older Adult Overview As people age, they become prone to different ailments. They thus require special health carethat cannot be provided in most health facilities. This often results in increased economic burden on the persons caring for the elderly and the entire health system. However, the quality of life for the elderly people can be improved, which would result in improved health. Conversely, the health care systems tend to neglect the special need of older adults. This results in need for development of special systems to enable provision of standard healthcare and preserve the dignity of elderly persons. The best way to improve the health of elderly people is through adoption of preventive measures. Health promotion and disease prevention on older adult helps in improving the quality of life for the elderly persons. Aging modifies the health status of the older adults as they become more prone to chronic ailments. Additionally physiological processes change which results in decrease muscle strength. The decline in muscle strength and vulnerability to chronic diseases results in further weakening of the elderly persons. In some cases, the aging process occurs as part of a disease. This makes it hard to differentiate problems arising due to old age from those resulting from diseases (Whitelaw, 2006). Factors Influencing Health in Old People As people grow older, they become fragile which results in increased health concerns. The aging process involves slowdown of the body systems. The rate at which the systems slow differs with individuals. However, the aging process results in reduced muscle activity, dryness of skins and slow healing of injuries. Additionally organs such as the kidney, brain, and heart become less efficient. Moreover, senses such as those of vision and hearing become less efficient resulting in declined perception and acuity respectively. The bones lose minerals and become fragile, which makes the older adults prone to fractures. Taste buds are less efficient and the elderly become choosy and dislike some diets (Viney, 2007). Another factor influencing the health status of the older adults is their emotional status. As people grow older, they interact less with people, which results in loneliness. Additionally, elder people have difficulties dealing with adversities such as loss of loved ones. Such issues may result in stress or depression. It thus becomes hard to deal with the health problems facing the elderly since they are often complicated in nature. Rizzo and Banks’ A Loving voice:  a caregivers book of read-aloud stories for the elderly suggest 52 poems and stories that can be read for elderly people in care centers to comfort them. (Rizzo & Banks, 1994). The main problem that requires to be dealt with for dignified aging includes chronic diseases. Chronic disease refers to lengthy health condition that is rarely healed completely. In cases of older adults with chronic diseases, the caregivers should aim at managing the symptoms associated with the condition to minimize damage and ease suffering. Common chronic ailments associated with old age include diabetes, heart ailments, poor eyesight, kidney dysfunction, cancer, Arthritis, depression, and High blood pressure (Whitelaw, 2006). Demographics The percentage of older people in the society has increased gradually over the last two decades due to improve quality of life, which has led to increased life expectancy. In the 1900, the number of old people who were above 65 years was approximately 4 percent. In last one century, there has been improvement in the quality of life resulting from improved economy as well as improved health care. This has resulted in increased life expectancy leading to increase in the proportion of old people in the population. According to statistics, the number of Americans above 65 years is approximated to have reached more than 71 million by the year 2030. This will be about one-fifth of the U.S. population. This is a demographic revolution, which call for invention of ways to deal with the demand for preventive healthcare that will increase. This is expected to have serious implications on public health and other organization or institutions offering services for the aging persons (Rizzo & Banks, 1994). Another factor that influence and often complicates the heath needs of older adults is the high level of disabilities amongst them. As people age, sensory impairments tend to increase. Additionally, other ailments such as dementia and metal problems become common. These factors complicate the needs of the older adults making it hard for the health systems to provide adequate care for the elderly (Greer, 2005). Nursing Preventive Services for the Older Adults It is possible to reduce the problems associated with old age through preventive clinical services. Due to the increasing number of elderly persons in United States, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has come up with certain clinical programs that aim at enhancing clinical care for elderly. The full list of services recommended by USPTF can be found at http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/uspsabrecs.htm Examples of preventive care services that have been set by USPSTF include vaccinations against Pneumococcal and Influenza, screening for colorectal cancer as well as breast cancer, and clinical care for lipid disorders (Greer, 2005). Other programs include physical therapy. Challenges Facing Nursing Care for Old People When people get older, their need for special health care services increases. This necessitates the health system to develop new approaches to deal with the old people. This is because the old population requires extended preventive care in addition to curative care. Additionally, there is need to promote nursing care for the elderly by improving the quality of life for the elderly people. Although there are set, clinical programs to offer preventive clinical care to the elderly, very few of the elderly people are conversant with such programs. Although most insurance companies pay for such care, some of the elderly persons are not aware of this and rarely get to take advantage of the services to improve their health (Bourbonniere & Evans , 2002). Another challenge facing the preventive care for the old is the high poverty levels among the older adults. Most families view the older adults as an economic burden if the elderly are not financially stable, it become hard for them to afford a dignified living. Some cannot afford quality food and housing which results in increased health problems. For those who seek healthcare, they can hardly afford to pay for it. They thus end up becoming a burden to the healthcare providers. I once witnessed a family neglect an elderly woman to an extent that the local authorities had to intervene and take the elderly to an elderly home. This is not the only case since the older adults are often considered more of a nuisance (Social Institute for Excellence, 2012). The older people have little or no role to play in economic development. There is thus a negative attitude toward them, which makes policy makers not to address the needs of older adults appropriately. In United States, there has been a lot of question on whether the preventive health care for the older adults should be promoted. Additionally, some people feel that the health system should prioritize the needs of the younger and productive individual as opposed to those of the elderly. This puts the health system into a dilemma on whether to continue promoting health care for the elderly or not (Viney, 2007). Ways of Promoting Older Adults Health Care One of the most significant ways of promoting preventive health care for the ole is through health and social policies. The policies should focus on improving healthcare provision and ensuring that the older adults participate in programs aimed at improving the quality of their lives. The policies should encourage free testing for the ailments that commonly affect the older adults. Another way of enhancing care for the elderly is through relocating them to care centers where they can receive exclusive care (Whitelaw, 2006). Since solder adults often have high level of stress, it is important to include programs that will help them deal with stressful situation in their care programs. Such activities should include exercises. However, the elder people tend to be fragile. The exercises to include in their programs should not involve much straining. Additionally, the program can help the elderly develop social networks to enable them share with their fellow older adults (Greer, 2005). Another way of improving the quality of life for the elderly is through community intervention programs. These are program designed to encourage members of the society to help the older adults in carrying out activities such as shopping and gardening. This ensures that the elderly can live within the society without having to be isolated and put in homes for the elderly. Social care TV provides ideas on how the members of the community can assist the health care systems in improving the quality of life for the elderly persons in the society (2012) (Span, 2012). However, I was impressed by the nature of care offered at the increasing number of faith based organization that aiding the government in caring for the older Adults in U.S. This can be found in a You Tube Video titled US Faith-Based Organizations Increasingly Care for Poor, Elderly that can be accessed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc8k_PaZFNY. Other ways of promoting preventive health care amongst the elderly include creating awareness on health issues, encouraging healthy lifestyles amongst the elderly, developing measures to prevent certain conditions through dignified care for the elderly (Whitelaw, 2006). Importance of Promoting Preventive Health Care for the Elderly It is by understanding the challenges associated with old age that we can be able to appreciate the need for promoting preventive health care for the older adults. Viney book Life stories: personal construct therapy with the elderly, which is a collection of real life stories, told by the elderly gives some insight on the sufferings that the elderly go through (Viney, 2007). The book gives some of the therapies that have been used in easing suffering amongst the elderly. The book argues that preventive health care helps in adding the elderly deal with challenges which makes life bearable (Whitelaw, 2006). Promoting preventive care for the older adults ensures reduction in prevalence and incidences of aging associated ailments. This reduces expenses of treating the elderly since preventive care is less expensive as compared to treatment. Prevention of chronic ailments is important since it reduces cases of disability amongst the older adults. Additionally, chronic ailments are the main causes of premature death amongst the elderly (Medicare, 2012). Moreover, the cost of treating chronic diseases is high. Chronic diseases can be prevented through organizing exercise programs for the elderly and provision of balanced and appropriate diet. By preventive care, cases of lost mobility, pain, disability, overdependence can be reduced (Webster, 2001; Bourbonniere & Evans , 2002). Conclusion There is need for promotion of preventive care for the elderly to improve the quality of life for the elderly. Most causes of suffering amongst the old can be eliminated through preventive care. The elderly are often neglected which results in loneliness and low quality of life. Improved health care and economy in the 21st century has resulted in increased number of old people in United States, which call for the need for development of programs to care for the elderly to reduce the cost of treatment of ailments that often, result due to lack of preventive care. References Bourbonniere , M., & Evans , L. (2002). Advanced practice nursing in the care of frail older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2002 Dec;50(12):, 2062-2076. Medicare. (2012, Oct 23). Online: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/medicare/index.html. Rizzo, J., & Banks, C. (1994). A Loving voice: a caregivers book of read-aloud stories for the elderly. New York: G.K. Hall & Co. Social Institute for Excellence. (2012). Social Care TV. Retrieved from Prevention: Promoting Well-being: http://www.scie.org.uk/socialcaretv/video-player.asp?v=promotingwell-being Span, P. (2012, Nov 5). Old, Frail and in Harms Way. New York Times, Online: http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/ Viney, L. (2007). Life stories: personal construct therapy with the elderly. New York: Wiley. Webster, E. (2001). Grandmas in the Basement: A Collection of Stories About the Elderly Based on Personal Experience. New York: iUniverse. Whitelaw, N. (2006). Evidence-Based Health Promotion for Older Adults. 4th State Units on Aging Nutritionists & Administrators Conference (pp. 1-20). National Council on Aging. Read More