Long-Term Care - Research Paper Example

Long-Term Care Long-Term Care Introduction Long term care is a term that de s numerous services that are meant to assist in both medical and non- medical needs of individuals who are ailing from protracted illnesses, and are further unable to support their needs pertaining to their normal tasks(Jacobs & Skocpol 2012).Apparently, long-term care is given to all ages especially the elderly incapacitated of attending to themselves in relation to their age and health conditions. Of importance to note is that long-term care is both formal and informally dispatched. On one hand, formal long term care entails a numerous clinical services such as nursing, drug therapy, and physical therapy, which are as a result of instructions that are mostly given by physicians. On the other hand, informal long-term care entails the support and care that is given out by members of the family, friends or any other individuals who do it voluntarily. Moreover, Pratt (2010) points out that long-term care (LTC) is a type of health care that is found in most of the countries across the world such as United States and Canada among other developed countries. History of Long-Term Care in the United States It is apparent that, the Health care policy did not kick off as it was expected in the United States. Basically, the history of LTC dates back to when the country made a decision to build poor houses that acted as institutions that were operated by the government during the colonial and post-colonial period where the needy within the society which included the disabled, orphans, the sick and the elderly who were taken care by being given food, shelter and other basic necessities. According to Almgren (2007), the first house that was meant to take care of the needy was constructed in the 16th century through the encouragement and adoption from the Elizabethan system of public charity that was incorporate by English Poor Laws. Additionally, the country operated the poor houses mostly on the farms where limited relief especially on financial matters were made by the local government. This served well for all the victims who did not have families or relatives who would offer assistance to them. Consequently, two centuries later, a board was created to oversee the possibility of improving the living conditions of the needy. For instance, the board was mandated to ensure that the improvement of these services incorporated the separation of the mentally disabled persons from those who were mentally upright, and dependent elderly persons from those that were independent. It was about this time that Dorothy Lynde became very instrumental in convincing the legislature of Massachusetts’ into passing laws that were meant to improve the general living conditions of the destitute (Jacobs & Skocpol 2012). In 1935, there was yet another improvement on the LTC. Actually, a Social Security Act was passed after the great depression that saw the lifetime of a huge percentage of elderly persons disappear. As a result, a Social Security program specifically made for the elderly known as Old Age Assistance (OAA) was developed(Pratt, 2010).The program aimed at ensuring that there was monetary support from the federal government to assist the elderly. It is for undoubted reasons that most of the state in the United States adapted to similar programs. It is around this time(1950) that the Hospital Survey and Construction(HSC) Act of 1946 also known as Burton Act provided the states with federal funds which were meant to facilitate the construction of hospital beds. As a result, nursing homes were able to contact the state in relation to getting their compensation for the giving services to the elderly. However, all nursing homes were expected to acquire license from the state before they could begin delivering services to the needy in the society and the state as a whole. The Inception of the Medicare and Medicaid In 1965, Medicare and Medicaid were introduced in the health landscape of the United States. They practically replaced the titles of the 18th and 19th amendments of the Social Security Act. Apparently, Medicare and Medicaid become the two major public health insurance programs in the United States that were aimed at resolving health challenges for all groups of people. On one hand, the Medicare was aimed at ensuring that there was continuous health care for the elderly, a considerable percentage of disabled person and those that were suffering from terminable diseases such as kidney failure. On the other hand, Medicaid was mandated to solve health challenges for the poor. According to Jacobs & Skocpol (2012), the inception of the two major public insurance programs enabled the LTC to become part of the health care delivery program. Moreover, the federal and state government received a new mandate of ensuring that LTC services were paid up and the whole concept of long term care had taken root. Furthermore, this concept encouraged many investors such as the Wall Street investors and real estate developers into making more investment on the nursing home industry. Soon after the two major public insurance programs had taken effect, numerous changes took place. Pratt (2010) articulates that, it was declared that individuals willing to participate in these programs must comply with the standards that had been put in place. These standards included the staffing levels, the qualification of staff, service delivery and fire safety. In a general sense, the issue of long term care is one that took great effort from the initiators back in the colonial and pre-colonial periods. Current states of Long –Term Care in United States Unfortunately, after much effort of initiating the LTC in the United States, it is now clear that LTC might not be in a position to make new changes in the near future (Almgren, 2007). In fact, it is believed that politicians in the United States have continuously ignored the policy and taken more interest in politics. Conversely, the State has taken much concentration on pursuing incremental policies that are meant to expand the purchasing of LTC insurance privately in order to ensure that the level of institutional care is reduced in favor of community-based services. The United States government is trying to evenly distribute long-term care responsibility to the community. Currently, people may receive long-term services in a number of settings, for instance, in the home- maybe from friends, relatives or a home health agency; in residential settings; the community among others. Initially, the term long term care was taken to refer to services offered to aid the elderly and young disabled persons carry on with their lives. Currently, some substitute terms have come to use such as long-term services and support. Delivery of long-term care services has constantly changed in the recent past. The larger portion of long term care services is offered at homes by use of skilled nursing facilities and informal caregivers. It is indispensable to note that majority of long-term care providers today are for profit. Therefore, there is a need for reinforcing long-term care at homes by relatives and friends. LTC has improved in the current times. Advancement in technology has helped solve numerous challenges faced in provision of long term care services. Technology has helped save time, personnel and money. For instance, a combination of voice-activated computer with robotics is a recent innovation enabling the aged and the disabled complete much of their daily chores with little or no assistance. People requiring long-term care are increasing rapidly increased. The cost of providing LTC has also become very be expensive. There is need to device mechanisms of reduce the personnel required to deliver long-term care. The current major changes in the medical technology and increased life expectancy has brought changes both positive and negative impact on ethical issues of long-term health care. Then emergency practices like mercy killing and introduction of suicide machines are an example of unethical issues resulting from advancement of technology in the medical field. Families and other informal care givers have become key players in provision of long-term care. The American government is encouraging families and informal caregivers to undertake long-term care to their aging and disabled members other than leaving this responsibility to the government. The government has endorsed family policy which encourages leaves for family members, employer flexibility and incentives for care giving. This policy facilitates transfer of long-term care responsibility to the community, relatives and friends of those in need of care. Long term care has become relatively expensive compared to the past. Not all those in need of it can afford due to financial constrains and depletion of resources. The continuing upward projection of long-term care cost has raised an alarm for the government to include all in financing the project for instance the enactment of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 2010 Conclusion The aging and the disabled remain human beings so long as they live. Therefore, it is necessary for stakeholders; government and the community, to put in place effective long-term care strategies. The strategy adopted should accommodate future changes since health and the medical field is not static. References: Almgren, G. (2007). Health care politics, policy, and services: a social justice analysis. New York; Springer Pub. Jacobs, L.& Skocpol, T. (2012). Health care reform and American politics: what everyone needs to know. New York: Oxford University Press. Pratt, J. (2010).Long-term care: managing across the continuum. Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Read More