Health and Illness in the Older Adult - Assignment Example

Title: HEALTH AND ILLNESS IN THE OLDER ADULT Name of student: Student number: Lecturer: Course: Date: Introduction Older adults are part of the population segment that require special health education efforts because their needs are unique and characteristics have not been put in consideration when the existing health programs was being designed, implemented and evaluated. Adults over the age of 65 experience age-related physical changes and have been recognized to be taking prescription and non-prescription drugs; and inmost cases they have been diagnosed with more than one illness. It is because of this reason that health-related complications tasks arises due to the fact that drug and illness interactions increases with age. Older adults sometimes are perceived as not serious enough to seek medical attention and this is as a result of belief systems and value of them, a condition that may facilitate or interfere with strategies for maintaining good health standards among people. (Smith, 2002) They may also experience more problems with their health and self-management behaviors than young and middle-aged adults and consequently they are forced to seek for alternative which may include the ongoing care of the patient in their environment. For example, residential aged care, home or acute care hospital. For instance, Mrs. Chin retired at the age of 65 and joined their family in Australia. Mrs. Chin has a medical history of arthritis and congestive cardiac failure. During a short hospital stay to treat pneumonia, she experienced an episode of delirium which has delayed her discharge. Some of the social principles that drove the ongoing care of Mrs. Chin in acute care hospital include: Societal stereotypes regarding activity in older people. Older people are considered to be prone to many health crisis. Registered nurses therefore decided not to wait for a crisis before responding and offering help to Mrs. Chin. We should affirm our long-standing support and urge social practices that will uphold the rights of young adults and the aging. (Koehler, 2006). Aging population therefore needs to be assisted in all means and that is why Australia government implements a policy to assess those needs to be supported. Need for ageing population assistance. Australian government recognizes the need to assist the disadvantaged and aged population to improve their living standards. Ordinary people of all ages and vulnerabilities will care for one another in ways and to the extent that go beyond the scope of traditional interventions only if they are given a chance. These caring relationships usually shift the focus of assistance from the service providers (nurses) to the members of the society (aged). Individual strengths and belief in everyone’s capacity to care for others should be emphasized. Dignity and legal status of older adults. Due to respect for older person’s dignity, beliefs security as well as full human rights, it led to Mrs. Chin hospitalized so that she can be given proper medical attention. They are regarded as useful members of the society and the need to support them cannot be overlooked by the government. Economic principles include: Financial stability. Mrs. Chin was expected to use efficient health care finance to receive comprehensive appropriate health care. Being financially stable, she opted to remain at acute care hospital though she has the right to reasonable and timely access to efficient health services. The government policy is to support the unstable ones as far as matters of finance is concerned. Care givers expertise: It is responsibility of the government to ensure that the supporting staffs are well equipped with relevant knowledge and skills. Health care workers are enabled to provide comprehensive appropriate health care. Mrs. Chin had the right to choose individual health care provider and/or family by considering their proficiency. Service provider credibility: Comparing residential age care, home, or acute care hospital, Mrs. Chin decided to remain the hospital for she knew that accessibility of required resources for the treatment is easy. Reputation of the institution will guide the patient to choose which one to prefer. (Margaret and Joyceen, 2007) As for the political principles that drive the ongoing care of patient in their environments are: The parents have the right to information to make healthy and responsible lifestyle choices and be encouraged to maintain optimal personal health. The government and individual professionals insist on the highest standards of ethics and integrity in their health care actions. No. 2 Serious illness has adverse effects on patients, family and friends. Generally, there is a disruption in family members and the family as a whole which may lead to disintegration or re-integration depending on severity of the parents’ illness. (Howard, 2008) Arthur Frank was also quoted saying. “Critical illness leaves no aspect of life unchanged……….Your relationships, your work, your sense of who you are and who you might become, your sense of what life is and what it ought to be-these all change and the change is terrifying.” Some of the impacts of the illness on the patient include: A great perception of being a burden on others: When illness persists for so long, patients despise and pity themselves and as a result consider themselves as a big burden to their family members and significant others. Personal appearance, self-image and self-esteem: when ones appearance changes due to illness, one can have demoralizing impact on self-image and self-esteem. The physical impact of illness makes one feel to have lost the person he/she used to be. What is even more worrying and frustrating is that medical practitioners do not fully prepare patients for the physical changes that come as a result of treatment and long illness. Higher levels of anxiety and greater impact of physical symptoms: Professor Peter S. (University of Liverpool) said that due to persistence in illness, physical appearance changes all over sudden; and the physical symptoms make the patient to lose confidence in them. When their health deteriorates, the level of anxiety increases and they tend to be pessimistic about their quick recovery. (Carol, 2008) Identity: Serious illness can affect every aspect of identity as it did for Mrs. Chin. Dr. Eric C wrote that disease can lead to the virtual destruction of a person by making the performance of his or her roles impossible. Lower levels of social support: Patients need to be supported fully socially but in most instances this is usually contrary. Majority of people tend to withdraw their support especially when situation proves to be demanding. It becomes difficult to share their feelings with other society members and as the saying goes, ‘a problem shared is a problem half solved.’ To them they tend to remain with their backlog of unshared problems. (Carol, 2008) Relationships: Long illness can distance and disrupt patients’ personal and physical relationships. Many people may be less likely to make physical contact fearing that they will cause pain and also find the patient less attractive. Patients because of being embarrassed by their physical appearance, depressed they tend to withdraw both physically and psychologically. Lower family cohesion Since patients do not integrate or interact freely with family members because most of time they are hospitalized or isolated, then their family cohesion continues to be lower by the day. Roles at home Long illness causes changes in physical function, energy and mood affecting ones ability to function at home and can cause changes in roles within the family. Fitzhugh Mullan wrote about his isolation from his family during prolonged hospitalization and treatment for cancer and the complications associated with that treatment. In the early days of my illness…Meghan and Judy spent a tremendous amount of time together and embarked on numerous project which I was not a part ….while I understood that Judy was protecting my energies by doing more than her share of child rearing …I felt left out sometimes. I couldn’t object since I had no alternative, but at intervals I felt envious and even jealous of the intimacy they shared in many areas. Wish to hasten death Sometimes pain and suffering may be unbearable to the extent that patients wish for ways and means that can hasten their death. Cases have been reported of some even collaborating with medical practitioner’s likes nurses and doctors in assisting them to take their life. Roles at work Majority of patients experience changes in their thinking and also they can no longer concentrate for long, read, solve a problem or even organize their work well. For example, Reynolds price, the author and poet found that he was unable to write for months after he became paralyzed as a result of a spinal cord tumor. As in all hospital, time bore down between events. For me it hung surprisingly heavy, because for the first time since grade school, I’d run head on into block on my work …… Stranger still, I found myself unable to read anything longer than a magazine article. My eyes were normal but my patience was gone. Reynolds Price. Having discussed impact of illness on patients let us briefly look at the impact of illness on the family and significant others. (Brown, 2007) Financial burdens; Expenses and costs incurred due to illness leaves the family in financial crisis. Families are most likely to report loss of most or all of the family’s savings and other properties. Caregiver depression and sense of interference with his or her life. Sometimes one need to adjust or change his/her schedule to create more time for the patient. Also when people are aware that the health of their patient is deteriorating even after treatment, then they become disturbed and this may lead to some being depressed. To summarize, in above situation, counseling is recommended for patient and their family member, by so doing they will be provided with tools to manage and overcome illness that may arise due to illness. In a situation where there is severe care giving, both patients and their families may opt to take the patient to residential aged care, home or acute care hospital where they will be looked at closely. This will enhance equal access to a quality health system on the basis of need. (Brown, 2007) No.3 An ideal integrated approach to the above situation of Mrs. Chin is to take care of her illness in the acute care hospital. In the hospital, nurses will be always available incase the patient want to be assisted as opposed to residential aged-care home where the caregiver may not be always trained or is unavailable. A. In the acute care hospital the actions to taken by registered nurse include: Taking care of patient Nurses help the patients by making sure that they are comfortable, they can breathe properly, seeing that they get enough nourishment and fluids as well as helping them rest and sleep, from what nurses know about the person and the problems that may occur often makes independence decision about the care of the patient. They not only take care of the patient but also gives them support and comfort as well as his or her family. (Brown, 2007) Coordinate the care of the patient They collaborate with other members of health care team and see that the plan is carried out. The family learns how to give basic care from the nurse and also they support the family in giving basic care to the patient. They coordinate the work of others involved in caring for the patient, including the patients’ family who may do a lot of caring for the patient. The quality of the care the patient receives during the hospital stay is widely determined by the nurse. Work with the doctor to cure the patient Nurses evaluate patients, detect problems and decide on the treatment needed to cure the problems or relieve the patient’s symptoms. After the doctors prescribe the treatments, it is the nurse who gives most of treatments and the doctors performs some of these. Nurses have more frequent contact with patients and therefore they tend to find problems of the patients before others. Protect the patient This is by ensuring that the environment is safe and healthy. They normally take all measures to prevent the spread of infection from one patient to another. (Brown, 2007) Generally, they protect patient’s digital and try to save the patient from embarrassment and also try to protect the patient against anything that might be harmful in the surroundings. Teach the patient and the Family Nurses teach the patient about self-care. They teach health promotion and disease prevention to patients and families. Both patients and their families are taught about proper diet and nutrition, hygiene, sleep and rest and all other aspects of a healthy life. Advocate for the patient Closeness and trust between nurse and patient gives nurses a good chance to promote patients’ well-being in all situations, speaking for them if necessary. Act as a link They act as a link between the patients and their family or significant others incase communication need to be enhanced between the two. B. Action to be taken by the patient includes: Enhancing a healthy relationship between him/her and the supporting staff (nurses).The patient should be comfortable speaking with the nurse and the respect for the nurse should be taken seriously. This will help the nurses to offer their best in terms of service. (Bastable, 2008) Patients are also expected to perform exercises during their leisure time and they can ask for assistance from supporting staff if need be. Regular exercise is vital for maintaining and improving mobility, flexibility as well as assist in eradicating secondary symptoms such as depression and constipation. Nutrition is another area that the patient should be very keen on what they take on daily basis. Patient should maintain a full diet that contains all the daily nutritional requirements and take plenty of fluids. This is vital to maintain body health and energy which is highly required bearing in mind that they are aged. They should also exercise physical, speech and/or occupational therapy. These help patients control their symptoms and make daily life easier. For example, increase muscle strength, increase voice volume and assist with word pronunciations. More practice is necessary because it will reduce boredom and in most of the time the patient will be engaged in an activity. C. The family or other social support need to provide a caring environment for asking questions about patients. By so doing they will be able to know how their patient is fairing when they collaborate with the nurses. They should share stories and advice as well as creating friendship with people who have experienced similar problems. They should also make sure they provide necessary support (be it financial or social support) and this will make the patient to feel loved and to realize that somebody somewhere cares when they need help most. (Harbert and Ginsberg, 2001) Families should maintain regular check-up of the older adult patients to know their status as well as any other problem they might be experiencing. Families may volunteer their time to the patient by sharing their experiences and acting as a mentor for other families. Patients will therefore have confidence in themselves after realizing that they are not the only one having the problem. D. Other members of the health care (individuals or organization) need to ensure that families of the patient are given the opportunity to make informed decisions about their sick loved one. Provide any relevant support to the patient and families as well as making sure those patients are being attended to. They should also work closely with the health care team through every step of treatment process. They are supposed to familiarize themselves on how their patients are being treated or looked at. Finally, they should gather data which is critical in determining if the patient is recovering. (Brown, 2007) In conclusion, each and everyone should work to make sure that the welfare of the other individual is good. This will create a conducive environment where people care for one another and as a result enhance harmony. Young, middle-aged and older adults need to be supported fully and treated equally because they have the right. References Anita S. Harbert, Leon H. Ginsberg (2001), Human Services for Older Adults: Concepts and Skills. London, Oxfords University Press Barbara Kuhn Timby (2008) Fundamental Nursing Skills and Concepts, London, Cambridge University Press Brown, S., (2007). Health and illness in Older Adults. Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education. Bryan B. Whaley (1999) Explaining Illness: Research, Theory, and Strategies, New York, McGraw-Hill Carol A. Miller (2008) Nursing for Wellness in Older Adults: Theory and Practice, New York, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, F.L. Smith. (2002) Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, New York, Prentice Hall Howard Brody (2008) Ethics, the Medical Profession, and the Pharmaceutical Industry, Newcastle, Rowman & Littlefield Margaret M. Andrews and Joyceen S. Boyle (2007). Transcultural Concepts in Nursing New York, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Rodolfo, A. and Norman, B. (2004). Health in Late Life, New York, New York times Stephen, M.et al. (2000), Behavior, health, and aging. New York, Prentice Hall Susan B. Bastable (2008) Nurse as Educator: Principles of Teaching and Learning for Nursing Practice, Asheville, ASH Press Read More