Assessing and Planning Care for an Elderly Person
Running head: AGE-RELATED COGNITIVE CHANGES 1
AGE-RELATED COGNITIVE CHANGES 4
Age-Related Issue
Name
Institution
Age-Related Issues
Chronic Health Conditions
Becoming older can seem daunting – becoming grey hair, wrinkles, looking out on the place where someone left the vehicle. With or without jokes, aging can lead to significant medical problems. With older people representing 12% of the world’s population – and rapidly increasing to over 22% by 2050 – it is crucial to understand the challenges faced by individuals as they grow older and to feel that there are preventive estimates that can put them in the healthy aging.
As indicated by the National Council on Aging, around 92% of the elderly have about one disease and 77% about two. Coronary heart disease, stroke, malignant growth, and diabetes are among the most expensive and recognized constant chronic health condition, representing 66% of the deaths every year. The National Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion recommends meeting with a doctor for an annual check-up, maintaining a healthy diet and maintaining a routine of activities to help monitor or prevent diseases without end. Bodybuilding is a developing problem among the older adults and taking part in this lifestyle can help reduce the heaviness and the endless conditions associated with it.
Cognitive Health
Cognitive health is centered on an individual’s ability to think, learn and remember. The most common medical problem that afflicts older people is dementia, the loss of these intellectual abilities. Dementia affects around 47.5 million people worldwide, a number that is expected to triple by 2050. The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. More than five million people over the age of 65 have the disease in the United States. According to the National Institute of Aging, other health problems and endless diseases increase the risk of creating dementia, such as substance abuse, diabetes, high blood pressure, melancholy, HIV and smoking. Although there is no cure for dementia, doctors can approve a treatment plan and medications to deal with the disease.
Mental Health
According to the World Health Organization, over 15% of adults over 60 has a psychological problem. Discouragement is a typical mental confusion among the elderly, which occurs in 7% of the elderly population. Surprisingly, this psychological problem is often underdiagnosed and externalized. More experienced adults account for more than 18% of US suicides. Since the pain can be a reaction to endless conditions of health, it is useful to manage these conditions. Furthermore, improving healthy lifestyles, such as improving living conditions and social assistance provided by family members, companions or assistance groups, can help treat poverty (American Diabetes Association, 2017).
Physical Injury
For every 15 seconds there is an older adult is allowed into the crisis area in the event of a fall. An elderly person dies at every 30 seconds, making it the primary source of injury for the elderly. As maturation makes the bones a psychologist and the muscles lose quality and adaptability, the elderly is increasingly powerless to lose their equality, injuring themselves and breaking a bone. Osteoporosis and osteoarthritis are two infections that contribute to lightness. However, falls are not inevitable. Most of the time, they can be anticipated through training, the development of physical movement and practical changes within the home.
Malnutrition
In adults over the age of 65, unhealthy people are regularly under-diagnosed and can lead to other old medical problems, such as a weakened resistant structure and muscle weakness. Health problems can result from other medical problems (elderly people with dementia can neglect to eat), sadness, alcohol dependence, dietary restrictions, decreased social contacts and reduced nutrition wages. By focusing on small changes in the diet, for example, by developing the use of food grown on the ground and decreasing the use of salt and salt soaked in fat, it can help older people to feed. There are food services available for more established adults who cannot manage the cost of food or who have difficulty preparing their meals.
Sensory Impairments
Sensory impairments, such as vision and hearing, are incredibly essential for Americans over the age of 70. As stated by the CDC, one in six already older adults have visual impedance, and one in four has a problem with the hearing. Fortunately, these two problems can be solved effectively with help, such as glasses or a portable hearing aid. New technology improves the assessment of hearing and portability of amplifiers.
Oral health
Oral health often overlooked; oral health is one of the most important problems for the elderly. The CDC Oral Health Division found that about 25% of adults over age 65 never had regular teeth. Problems like tooth decay can be problematic to maintain a healthy diet, low self-esteem, and other health conditions. The oral health problems related to the most established adults are dry mouth, gum disease and malignant growth of the mouth. These conditions could be monitored or prevented by performing a normal dental registration. However, dental care can be difficult to manage for the elderly due to loss of dental coverage after retirement or financial difficulties.
Substance Abuse
Abuse of drug addiction, which is regularly linked to alcohol or drugs, is more prevalent among older people than expected. According to the National Council on Aging, the number of more experienced adults with substance abuse problems has multiplied by two to five million by 2020. As many do not show the abuse of psychoactive substances with older people, they are often ignored and omitted in the processing of records. Furthermore, many solutions for use over long distances are generally approved by more established adults. The National Drugs Institute estimates that substance abuse is usually the result of a person suffering from mental deficiencies or taking medication from another patient due to his inability to pay on his own (American Diabetes Association, 2016).
Bladder control and constipation
Constipation and incontinence are recurrent events with age and can affect the personal satisfaction of older adults. Despite the age-related changes, they can be a symptom of the previous problems mentioned above, for example, not eating well and living in chronic health condition. The Mayo Clinic recommends maintaining a healthy weight, eating well and getting used to staying away from these older medical problems. There are often powerful medical treatments, and more established adults should not be humiliated to examine with their doctor (Kobayashi et al., 2015).
Bones, Muscles and Joints
As people become older, their bones become shriveled and thicker. Some people turn out to be shorter. Others are more and more prone to break up due to bone disgrace. Muscles, ligaments, and joints can lose quality and adaptability. Exercise is an extraordinary way to moderate or avoid bone, muscle and joint problems. Maintaining quality and adaptability will help the older people stay strong. Furthermore, a healthy diet that includes calcium can help bones become stronger. The older people should make sure they discuss the types of food and exercise routines that are right for them with the doctor (Simon et al., 2015).
Digestive System
Digestive reflexes and swallowing slow down as people grow older. Gulping can end more diligently while the throat contracts less convincingly. It is also possible to reduce the flow progression which helps digest food in the stomach, liver, pancreas and small intestinal tract. Decreased flow can lead to stomach problems that were absent when you were younger.
The kidneys and the urinary tract
Kidneys may be less effective in excreting waste from the circulation system because the kidneys become smaller as they lose their cells with age. Endless infections, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, can cause far more kidney damage. Urinary incontinence can occur due to an assortment of health problems. Changes in hormone levels in women and prostate enlargement in men contribute to urinary incontinence (Valls-Pedret et al., 2015).
Brain and Nervous System
As people grow older, they normally lose cells. This is also valid in the brain. The misfortune of memory occurs due to the reduced number of mental cells. The brain can adapt to this misfortune by increasing the number of associations between cells to protect the work of the mind. The reflections can retreat; diversion is more likely, and coordination is affected.
Katz index of independence in activities of daily living (ADL)
The individual that was under study using this tool was a retired soldier aged 65 years. The patient under study was tested using this tool and he managed to score 6-6. The first step was check actually if the interviewee was able take a bath in all body parts without being assisted. In case the interviewee needed the assistance, the tool was to assess which parts of the body do they need it. Also, the tool was to assess if the older people needed assistance when dressing or not. The tool was also testing if the interviewee was able to go to the toilet and do everything by herself. Also, the tool tested if she was able to move from one point to another without assistance. She was able to accurately and fully urination and defection, which was able to earn her a mark to continence. The client was able to feed herself and even she took part in cooking process.
Appendix A
Patient Questionnaire
INTERVIEW OF CHOSEN ELDER ADULT
Facilitator: Estrella Gonzalez Name: H.G Age: 65 years old
Brief Introduction (Background information):
The chosen patient is an elderly adulty lady aged 65 years old. She is widowed and has been having some common adult issues and mostly cognitive changes as she is becoming older.
1. Philosophy on living a long life
She believes that for her to live a long live, she has to go for regular medical check-ups, eat balanced meals, do some exercises that are light and always follow medical directions for taking medicines.
2. Thoughts about when a person is considered “too old”
She thinks that a person can be considered too old when she has completely lost cognitive senses and also when their body parts and organize start failing to function properly.
3. Opinion on the status and treatment of older adults
Her opinion on the status and treatment of older adults is that most medical institutions and caregivers ignore older adults or give them long prescriptions because they do not understand them or due to failure of proper communication.
4. Beliefs about health and illness
She believes that eating balanced diet and also regular medical checkups will help her stay healthy.
5. Health promotion activities he or she participates in
She does not participate in health promotion activities
6. Something special that helped the person live so long
She believes that she has been able to live for long through regular exercises, eating balanced diet and also going for regular medical checkups.
7. Life span of other family members
Other family members have been having shorter lifespans due to lack of exercises, poor eating habits and they rarely go for medical checkups unless they are sick.
8. Special dietary traditions in patient’s culture attributed with aiding long life
The special diets that are associated with long life are green indigenous vegetables, avoiding fatty meals and also too much proteins like red meat and blood
9. Any remedies/medications that have been handed down in family/group. If yes, describe.
There was no remedies or medications that were handed down the family tree.
10. Patient’s description of current and past health status
She feels that her current health status is weaker than when she was at the middle age or younger.
11. The values that guided life so far
She believes that eating heathy, exercises and also keeping the environment clean on top of regular medical checkups as the values that have guided her to date.
Additional Questions
1. what is your perception of medical information?
There some medical information that she does not appreciate and instructions for instance, they rarely comprehend names of prescription drugs.
2. What is your belief in improving the use of medical devices and technologies?
She believes that some systems pose unreasonable questions since she has little grasp of the rapid technological advancements.
3. Concerning medication Adherence, do you believe that you have become wiser as you grow old?
She believes that she has become wiser with age advancement. This is because she is able to attach medications to certain common activities.
Summary
Generally, elderly adults have both physical and cognitive changes that affect them as they grow older. The adult under consideration believes in light exercises, eating balanced meals and also regular medical checkups and medications as a way to lengthen her lifespan.
References
American Diabetes Association. (2017). 3. Comprehensive medical evaluation and assessment of comorbidities. Diabetes Care, 40(Supplement 1), S25-S32.
Kobayashi, L. C., Wardle, J., Wolf, M. S., & von Wagner, C. (2015). Cognitive function and health literacy decline in a cohort of aging English adults. Journal of general internal medicine, 30(7), 958-964.
Simon, S. S., Cordás, T. A., & Bottino, C. M. (2015). Cognitive Behavioral Therapies in older adults with depression and cognitive deficits: a systematic review. International journal of geriatric psychiatry, 30(3), 223-233.
Valls-Pedret, C., Sala-Vila, A., Serra-Mir, M., Corella, D., De la Torre, R., Martínez- González, M. Á., … & Estruch, R. (2015). Mediterranean diet and age-related cognitive decline: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA internal medicine, 175(7), 1094- 1103.
"Looking for a Similar Assignment? Get Expert Help at an Amazing Discount!"
