1. Executive summary
Improved living conditions and healthier lifestyles and progress in medical causes increase in population size and consequently increases the number of older people. In some countries, increase in the number of older people and reduced facilities to cater for them in hospitals forces them to be cared for in their own homes or in some special accommodations. This often means that the community care services are responsible for many people with various complex diseases. These older people depend on advanced nursing care and help in their day to day living. In recent decades, a great deal of research has been carried out focusing on elderly people’s health and care and great diversity of health problems of older people has been found (Borglin, 2005). It has also been established that older people care can be both good and bad according to Haak (2006). Since care should be based on the needs and problems of the patient, for one to provide high quality care to the older people, he/she should be know how older people dependent on such care, describe their experiences of health and ill health and good and bad care. This paper focuses on ageing, health and well-being, factors which improve health and the quality of care given to the older dependent people.
2. Ageing
Ageing refers to a series of events consisting of transformations, where every such transformation is a collective change of previous conditions. These changes affect the older people psychologically, biologically and socially. Psychological ageing is generally concerned with older people’s capability to become accustomed to physical and emotional stress. Social ageing is involved with changing responsibilities in society and older people’s ability to c...
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...that good care could only be realized when the caregivers provided safe and secure care. This meant that they had adequate competence and skills within older people’s care, enough time to carry out their duties thoroughly, and continuity in their time-schedule. Many previous studies have already stressed the utmost importance of caregivers’ competence and attitudes to achievement of high quality in older people’s care. Notable in our study was the great impact that the caregivers also had on the older people’s experience of health and well-being, which has not been found in other studies on older people’s care. The effect of positive or negative responses on people’s self-esteem and motivation is already well-known both from theories in nursing but our study highlighted that this theoretical knowledge should also be taken into account in the care of older people.
Hiller, S. M., & Barrow, G. M. (2011). Aging, the individual, and society. (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Prominent musician, Celine Dion, once said, “There’s no such thing is aging, but maturing and knowledge. It’s beautiful, I call that beauty.” To many, growing old is just a natural, beautiful part of life. It is inevitable. It is inescapable. The functionalist perspective of sociology states that the elderly perform a function in order to keep society running with ease. Functionalists focus on the disengagement theory and how people tend to disengage from society as they approach death. Symbolic interactionists focus on how environmental factors and relationships with others affect the aging experience, focusing on the activity theory and the continuity theory (Carl, 2011, p. 220). Conflict theorists focus on the discrepancies that arise between different age groups. They also focus on the economical side of aging and the issues that may arise due to an active elderly population (Carl, 2011, p. 221).
Aging is universal and it is a process that everyone has to go through. The only difference is that everyone goes through this process at their own pace influenced by factors that will be discussed later on in this paper. When we think about factors that have an influence on older adults and how their life may be affected, we must consider the different social institutions while analyzing influences from social factors, cultural factors, and personal values. Abuse to older adults, stereotyping and informal care and technological advancements that affect older adults are the three topics that will be discussed in this reflection. Furthermore, will connect the three topics I have chosen to the knowledge that I have gained from my interaction
Hooyman, N., & Kiyak, H. A. (2011). Social gerontology: A multidisciplinary perspective (9th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. (Original work published 2005)
Attitudes are the foundation of quality of care for older adults. Among health care professionals, discrimination and stereotypical behaviors are very prevalent, even though more often than not these individuals do not realize their actions are ageist. “Ageism hinders people from seeing the potential of aging, anticipation their own aging, and being responsive to the needs of older people” (McGuire, Klein & Shu-Li, 2008, p. 12). Attitudes are directly correlated with how individuals age and whether individuals stay health and live longer (McGuire, Klein & Shu-Li, 2008, p. 12). The care that older adults receive from healthcare professionals is directly influenced by that provider’s attitude about growing older. All too often, health care providers rely on a patient’s chronological age rather than their functional age when determining their needs and what interventions are prescribed. Another issue lies in providers viewing the complaints of older patients as a part of “normal aging”, therefore potentially missing life-threatening problems that may have been easily resolved. “Age is only appropriate in health treatment as a secondary factor in making medical decisions, and it should not be used as a stand-alone factor” (Nolan, 2011, p. 334).
Successful Aging Elderly (SAE) Introduction In the elderly population most of the research carried out so far emphasizes on the functional problems and diseases. When it comes to successful aging elderly (SEA), it has been recommended that health status should be used to distinguish between elderly subgroups and disease-free people who can describe successful aging elderly (SAE). The research papers aims to describe a transitory overview of successful aging elderly research, illustrated in their chief sections: cognitive aspects, psychological and social aspects. It is proposed that future studies will unemployment an extensive demonstration of SAE, where the emphasis will be more on biological, health and cognitive perspectives.
Atchley, R. C. (1997). Social forces and aging: An introduction to social gerontology (8th ed.).
Darby, S. Marr, J. Crump, A Scurfield, M (1999) Older People, Nursing & Mental Health. Oxford: Buterworth-Heinemann.
Ageing is something that everyone will eventually experience if they are fortunate to live a long life. The process of ageing comes with various negative and positive outlooks. In western culture, ageing for both genders is particularly condemned. In the media in particular, the process of ageing for men and women vary greatly. Where, women are condemned for ageing more than men are. Media greatly highlights on the stereotypical notion of ageing especially in the aspect of portraying men and women and their social roles through advertisement. I will be discussing
Theories concerned with ageing are constructed in an attempt to objectively satisfy the inquiries that arise after studying ageing and to provide evidence based clarifications. In the context of this essay, they allow troubleshooting regarding issues around the type of support would be expected to be needed by Betty and her son. Bengtson et al, (1999) accepts the potential pragmatism of the theories nevertheless he argues that they can be generalised and unimaginative. The controversy regarding theorising ageing becomes especially relevant when they are applied in isolation failing to address that “the science and positivism are severely limiting… for understanding aspects of ageing.” Bengtson et al (1999)
An important step to decrease an ageist attitude is to take a step back and recognize biases and preconceived ideas that one has about older adults (DeBrew, 2015). Recognizing biases in combination with furthering one’s education about the effects of aging and the specific needs of older adults will help increase compassionate care. To allow for effective interventions it is important that the nurse understand that illness and infection manifest differently in older adults than they do in the younger population (DeBrew, 2015). In addition, through ethnographic study it was found that when nurses spend time doing activities with older adults it helps strengthen relationships and sense of community between care providers and elderly patients (DeBrew, 2015). According to the article, “occupational therapists who worked with older adults felt ‘stigmatized’ by their peers because their work was viewed as less challenging and requiring less skill and intellect than caring for other populations” (DeBrew, 2015). To promote compassionate patient care it is important that nurses and other professionals get support from their peers to confirm that their work is not insignificant and looked down upon. Finally, include the older adult while creating the plan of care to show them that they are a valued part of their healthcare
Older adults are a very knowledgeable population and have had a lot of life experiences. As people age, things start to change physically, mentally, and socially. It’s important to understand the process of aging, so that older adults can be taken care of properly. I interviewed P.R. who is a 71-year-old male that lives alone in his home. P.R. is a retired coal miner, and is currently living off his social security and savings. He lives close to both his daughter and son, who frequently help him out with things that are needed. P.R. was able to give me a lot of insight about specific challenges that he has experienced in his life that is associated with aging. I will be discussing challenges that P.R experienced physically, mentally,
Ageing is a continuing life cycle, it is an ongoing developmental event that brings certain changes in one’s own psychological and physical state. It is a time in one's own life where an elderly individual reminisce and reflect, to bask and live on previous accomplishments and begin to finish his life cycle. There is a significant amount of adjusting that requires an elderly individual to be flexible and develop new coping skills to adapt in the changes that are common in their new life. (Dhara & Jogsan, 2013).
This assignment critically discusses about dementia, a widespread disability among older adults today. It provides an introduction to dementia and analyses its prevalence in society. The various forms of dementias are elaborated with description about dysfunctions and symptoms. Nursing Assessment and Interventions are provided in the further sections which discusses about actions nurses should take on while evaluating patients and treating them. Finally, communication, an important Activity of Daily Living (ADL) is explored and patient/carer advice is presented so as to maintain good health conditions in the patient.
Aging and being old was dominated by negative characteristics and conditions such as illness, depression, and isolation for a long time (Eibach, Mock, & Courtney, 2010). At first glance the terms “success” and “aging” seem to be in conflict to each other. When asking people about aging, their answers have many facets that are also found in psychological definitions: successful aging is seen as health, maturity and personal growth, self-acceptance, happiness, generativity, coping, and acceptance of age-related limitations. In the psychological sense successful aging is also often seen as the absence of age-associated characteristics (Strawbridge, Wallhagen, & Cohen, 2002). It seems that successful aging means is not aging.