A functional decline can be quite hard not only for the patient but for the family to understand. For those experiencing functional decline, whether it may be them self or a loved one, it is important to know of resources to turn to such as Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE) and Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP).
NICHE is a nursing focus program created for the geriatric population as a resource to be used in achieving health care goals of that population. There is an immense amount of information that can be learned from accessing this online website. This program allows for healthcare facilities to purchase a membership where they will access tools to help improve outcomes for their older patients. The goal of NICHE is to improve the care of geriatric patients. There are several interesting facts
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NICHE provides a couple success stories of their program. Not only is this a testament to the work they are doing, but it also shows promise to their patients. NICHE provides reference tools on their website in order provide support for a geriatric patient’s caregiver or loved one. The tool will help to establish the caregiver or loved one a background through guides and definitions that factor into caring for a geriatric patient. Finally, NICHE offers on their website information that one should know. Several of the topics include delirium, depression, and functional decline. This information is accessible to anyone who wishes to brush up on their knowledge. Another resource for these patients would be to access HELP. HELP is a program to help care for older adults by
Dementia is common among a large population of elderly people. The disease affects not only the individual diagnosed, but also the caregivers that work towards making their life comfortable in the end. Understanding and learning about the disease is crucial in helping those that experience or live with someone who has dementia. The services and support that are currently in affect for elderly people with dementia and the caregivers is poor, and ineffective because of the lack of research and information on the topic.
Long-term care (LTC) covers a wide range of clinical and social services for those who need assistance due to functional limitations. These limitations usually result from complications associated with age related chronic conditions, from disabilities related to birth defects, brain damage, or mental retardation in children; or from major illnesses or injuries suffered by adults (Shi L. & Singh D.A., 2011). LTC encompasses a variety of services including traditional clinical services, social services and housing. Unlike acute care, long-term care is much more complicated and has objectives that are much harder to measure. Acute care mainly focuses on returning patients to their previous functional level and is primarily provided by specialty providers. However, LTC mainly focuses on preventing the physical and mental deterioration of an individual and promoting social adjustments to suit the different stages of decline. In addition the providers of LTC are more diverse than those in acute care and is offered in both formal and informal settings, which include: hospitals, physicians, home care, adult day care, nursing home care, assisted living and even informal caregivers such as friends and family members. Long-term care services have been dominated by community based services, which include informal care (86%, about 10 to 11 million) and formal institutional care delivered in nursing facilities (14%, 1.6 million) (McCall, 2001). Of more than the 10 million Americans estimated to require LTC services, 58% are elderly and 42% are under the age of 65 (Shi L. & Singh D.A., 2011). The users of LTC are either frail elderly or disabled and because of the specific care needs of this population, the care varies based on an indiv...
Caring for the elderly is an activity that requires patience, willingness, due diligence and effective co-ordination of resources in order to optimally benefit the recipients. Community services and programs is one such avenue that caters for the elderly by providing for their mental, physical, social and emotional well-being, and by extension promotes a greater quality of life. Community services help meet the needs of the elderly and attract older people who face barriers to active living. One strong advocate of community based services and a program for the elderly is the American Association of Retired People (AARP) who relentlessly seeks to promote a healthy lifestyle for people 50 years and over.
Landafeld, S., Palmer, R., Kresevic, D., Fortinsky, R., & Kowal, J. (1995). A randomized trial of care in a hospital medical unit especially designed to improve functional outcomes of acutely ill older patients. New England Journal of Medicine, 332(20), 1338-1344.
Aging is a natural part of human life. With modern technologies and medical innovations, the society has been able to prolong life and thus increase the number of older adults in the society. Normal part of aging are inevitable physiological and psychological changes, which need to be understood and addressed by nurses in order to provide appropriate care for older adults. Presenting patient’s description with appropriate data, I will utilize Watson’s Caring theory (2008) to assess the lower order need of activity-inactivity relative to this older adult patient cared for in the hospitalized environment. The integration of theory, research and best practice guidelines will be used to plan nursing interventions and strategies to meet the health needs of older adults in health care. Watson’s (2008) fourth caritas process of developing and sustaining a helping-trusting caring relationship will be used to describe the nursing implementations which were utilized in providing safe and competent care for older adult.
The focus of this paper is to compare and contrast a well elder and a frail elder while using Occupational Therapy Practice Framework language. For this assignment I chose to conduct a semi structured interview using the Canadian Occupational performance Measure (COPM) to gather information about my chosen elders perceived problems and priorities. For this assignment I will be using pseudonyms in order to protect the privacy of both individuals.
Taking care of the individuals that are getting older takes many different needs. Most of these needs cannot be given from the help of a family. This causes the need of having to put your love one into a home and causing for the worry of how they will be treated. It is important for the family and also the soon to be client to feel at home in their new environment. This has been an issue with the care being provided for each individual, which has lead to the need of making sure individuals have their own health care plan.
Houde, S., & Melillo, K. (2009). Caring for an aging population. Journal Of Gerontological Nursing, 35(12), 9-13. doi:10.3928/00989134-20091103-04
Delirium, Depression, and Dementia are some of the most common psychological diagnoses in the elderly today. The three D’s are difficult to differentiate between in older adults because they overlap with each other and can all exist in the same patient at once. Delirium, Dementia, and Depression all affect the elderly’s quality of life and often increase the risks for one another (Downing, Caprio & Lyness, 2013). For the purpose of this paper I will be focusing primarily on the diagnosis of Dementia, the prevention, and nursing measures associated with it, but first I would like to differentiate between Delirium and Depression because Dementia is often associated with the two in the older adult population.
There are changes in the demographic as the population grows older, the number of older adult’s increases and thus, there is an increase of proportion of patients that are older adults for nurses to take care of (Wells, Y., Foreman, P., Gething, L., & Petralia, W., 2004). The nurses are there to assist and support the older adults in achieving wellness within their situation through empowering the clients (Touhy, et al (2012). Caring for older adults is important as there is an increase in population with deteriorating health. When caring for a client it is important to incorporate Jean Watson’s caring theories and Carative Factors to help influence and support the care. She encourages nurses to co-participate within the caring process by establishing unity and trust between the nurse and client. First, this paper will explain a situation in where I cared for an older adult and it will then introduce Jean Watson’s lower order needs, specifically the need for activity and how it relates to the older adult I cared for. Lastly, this paper will explain the nursing interventions I implemented to meet the lower order need, with a discussion of Carative Factor #4 relating to the client.
Dementia is classified in three stages. In each stage there are various things caregivers and family members can do to improve the life of their demented loved one. Throughout all three stages of dementia it is important for family members to keep in touch with their loved one. This will make the demented patient feel a sense of belonging and importance. Patients may also benefit from stories, pictures, trinkets, and documents that remind them of the
Kick, Ella. "Overview: Health Care and the Aging Population: What Are Today's Challenges?" The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. N.p., n.d. Web.
Miller, C. A. & Co., Inc. (2009). The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Nursing for wellness in older adults: Theory and practice (5th ed.). Cleveland, Ohio: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (2011).
Elderly patients in the early stages of dementia which enables them to continue living in a safe and familiar place for a longer period of time.
The purpose of this paper is to provide a nursing care plan for a geriatric client of a long-term care facility. This paper will discuss assessment of the client’s current health status. While her mental and social well-being are addressed, the most in-depth assessment of this client concerns her physical health. Nursing diagnoses will follow, based on the information collected during assessment. Then expected outcomes will be planned for the client, ideally resulting in improvement of her health status in various areas. This paper will then transition to theoretical implementation of nursing interventions, including any necessary teaching. While these nursing interventions will not be formally implemented, methods for evaluating the conjectured effectiveness of the interventions will be discussed.