Public Health - Health Promotion - Dementia -Assessment Answer

Assignment Task

1. Global Ageing - Watch the YouTube video 'Global Aging'. Using this

   information, as well as the information in your weekly readings, discuss how population trends affect relationships of older adults and their families.

2. Health Promotion - Identify a topic of older adult health that you would be interested in promoting. Suggest some major points that you would need to include if offering a health promotion program on this topic. As well as writing about your own topic, you should reply to a thread that another student has made and offer some encouragement and feedback about what else they might include in their health promotion program.
3. Dementia - The occurrence of dementia is an increasing trend. In your opinion, how will this trend affect health care in the future?
4. Older Adults in the Acute Care Setting -70% of patients in acute care settings

   are older adults. Explain the skills that acute care nurses will need to have to care for this population effectively.

Introduction

I am a stage 3 nursing student and have done 2 practices in age care facility. My experience at these place has being devastating and has contributed a lot in changing my perspective of life. I always wanted a career through which I can contribute actively for the betterment of the society. Emerging new technologies in health care has improved the average life expectancy, because of which the elderly people now form a substantial part of the total population across the world. With growing age people start experiencing isolation and despair because of their in ability to cope up socially. This further leads to decline in their heath along with the aging consequences. This makes them in effective to ardently contribute in the community activities. Providing necessary resources can impart happiness in them and can help them regain self-confidence making them capable to sustain themselves. So nursing and caring for old age people was the best way to fulfill my goals. I often go beyond the actual care plan to be assured that all the needs of my patients are being fulfilled when required. I try to devote personal care for each of them and really enjoy doing that. This deepens my way of communicating with them. They appreciate my attentiveness and care. The joy they experience and the gratitude they offer comes to me as a rewarding.

1 . The long lasting trend of young outnumbering the elderly in changing across the world. The global population has started ageing at an accelerated rate. It has been estimated that there were about 12 working people for each elderly person in 1950. It accounted for only five percent of the world’s population that was 65 years or older. This number has jumped to 9 for the present scenario and is anticipated to reach 4 for each person over 60 years by 2050 (International Monetary Fund, 2011). These demographic and epidemiological shifts are expected to affect both socio-economic and political aspects. This includes profound changes in family composition, living arrangements, housing demand, migration trends, health and long-term care provisions, growth, saving and debt patterns, work and retirement conditions, pensions, taxation political representations etc. Although older adults serve as essential resources to their communities, they face a great risk of marginalization as well. Aging brings with it health concerns, vulnerability and uncertainty. Aged people thus experience both social depreciation and poverty when they become incapable of working in labour and financial market. This often leads to various insecurities, especially in countries with developing and transitioning economies. So to strengthen the human resource of the country there is an urgent need to ensure and enable supportive environments for the older adults. This objective can be achieved by paying attention to five major factors- 1) by creating safe, accessible, and affordable housing; 2) constant support for their families and caregivers; 3) taking measures to prevent and reduce discrimination against elders; 4) ensuring empowerment and participation of older people in major policy decision making; and 5) reforming existing pension systems and making health care affordable for all (IFSW, 2012).

2 .Dementia is an umbrella term used to define a condition characterized by loss of memory and declining cognitive abilities. It mostly affects older adults. Dementia is the second leading cause of death in Australia. As per 2016 report, around 353,800 Australian above the age 65 and 25,100 people below the age of 65 were diagnosed with dementia (National Dementia, 2016). Alzheimer’s is one of the major contributors for the dementia state in patients. It does not only affect the patient but also has a detrimental effect on the lives of associated family members and friends. Proper information and support at the right time can help a great deal in handling the condition. Many promotional campaigns are being organized by governmental and private organizations for the same. Some of the major points that can be included while offering a health promotion program on Alzheimer’s are as following (Alzheimer’s society, 2007):

1. Though Alzheimer’s is a progressive and degenerative brain disease, it can be controlled to some extent if diagnosed timely. So symptoms associated with the onset of this disease must be promoted clearly.
2. Various measures which can be used to reduce the risk of dementia can be made available, especially for the people with history of Alzheimer’s in their family. These include stimulation of the brain, engaging in social activities, taking proper nutrition, involving in physical activities, avoiding stressful situations, preventing mild or chronic head injuries, careful choice of drugs, keeping away from alcohol and smoking, regularly consulting a doctor and taking adequate sleep.
3. Private sector companies are also taking interest in brain health. Nintendo has recently launched a game called ‘Brain Age’ for cognitive exercise of the brain for increasing the flow of blood there.
4. Health conditions which can elevate the Alzheimer’s effect can be promoted. Type 2 Diabetes and hypertension are two major conditions found associated with Alzheimer’s.
5. Lastly people can be made aware of the organizations which support the patients and their families affected by Alzheimer’s in various aspects.

3 .Dementia is one of the leading causes of death in Australia. On an average, approximately 25 people die because of dementia each day. This number is expected to increase at an accelerated rate. It is also one of the major reasons for increasing disability and dependency among the people over the age of 65, surpassing cardiovascular disease, cancer, and depression. In 2009-10 the gross expenditure on health and age care services for dementia care accounted for about $4.9 billion, and is expected to reach $83 billion by 2060 (National Dementia, 2016). An increase in the demand for aged care services is predicted and the people availing the services will be diverse culturally and linguistically, aboriginal and indigenous people or people living in regional and rural areas. The demand for control and choice over high quality services will also increase as older people nowadays prefer aging at their homes. The availability of family members and other informal care givers is also expected to decline. This raises a need for improvement in residential aged care services. The demand for funding and provision of services will also increase and needs to be responsibly shared across all levels of government and the private sector organizations. The focus of the medical services will also shift to prevention. As health care professionals are key players in early detection and management of dementia state, proper training and educating initiatives are needed for making them capable to timely diagnose such conditions in their patients. Community care services aimed at helping older people to manage their daily activities and live comfortably in their own homes are also needed (AIHWC, 2004 and 2012). The Federal Government of Australia has decided to invest an additional $200 million in research for dementia in the next five years (National Dementia, 2016).

4 .Frail or older people have multiple complex needs and hence require expertise, leadership and proper resources for their healthcare. They may suffer from both physical and mental health problems simultaneously, which may include cognitive disability, depression and anxiety. Such conditions can result in dispiritedness, agitation and delusions. Caring for them thus requires special skills and hence there is an urgent need to train experienced nurses and make them advanced nurse practitioners. Acute care of older people requires many interrelated skills and involvements. Nurses must have the ability to effectively communicate not only with the older patient but also with their family members so as to conduct a rounded comprehensive assessment. They need to coordinate among the members of the multidisciplinary team and ensuring that the assessment and interventions are completed on time is their responsibility. Assessing the risk of falls and cognitive impairment, assessing and managing pain and continence issues, caring for wounds are all to be dealt by them. Along with this, they also need to promote health education and patient encouragement (Goldberg et al., 2014).

Importantly, it is the duty of the nurses in the acute care setting to ensure the implementation of aged-friendly principles. To mention a few examples, large font size must be used for providing written information to the patient, proper lighting arrangements must be made to allow to make it easy for the patients to move at night, the height of beds and chairs should be adjusted to the patients need, proper aids for easy mobility must also be available. Quality of medicines to be administered requires strict checking as old aged people are more prone to adverse reactions because of declining drug tolerance and absorption in the body (QUT, 2014).