Category: Gerontology

Introduction

Aging is a universal and natural biological process, characterized by gradual, multi-temporal, and steady progression, leading to a decrease in adaptive capacity, the viability of an individual and ultimately determining life expectancy. The social and psychological problems of older people, as well as certain aspects of human aging, are the subject of study in many branches of natural and social sciences. However, for most of them, these problems are not essential. Only gerontology, which is the modern and newly emerging science, puts the issues of old age and aging at the center of research. Simultaneously, it uses and applies the knowledge accumulated in other scientific fields, and specialties of various elder care professions. In this regard, gerontology is located at a junction of many scientific theoretical and practical knowledge. Each discipline introduces its development, achievements, and methods in solving the problems of an aging person and contributing to continuous improvement.

The urgency of the problem is manifested in the fact that isolation of the aging period and the development of gerontological issues are associated with a complex of socio-economic, biological, and psychological reasons. There is also accompanied by an increasing role of the human factor in the development of society, while the tendency of the elderly to increase in the demographic structure of society. At the end of life, a person undergoes both psychological and physiological events. Therefore, it is essential to understand these changes in order to able to assist and support older adults properly.

Literature Review

The lack of a genetic approach to the study of the psychology of adults has, until recently, been hampered by the study of age variation. It was believed that if a process of mental development did not end in childhood and adolescence, then with the onset of maturity, it is difficult for a person to rely on the capabilities of this process. It occurs because the mechanisms that ensure development stop functioning (Miller, Hedlund, & Soule, 2006). However, due to the emergence of new knowledge about the structure of development of the psychophysiological functions of an adult, this view was replaced by a different one. It is based on the position of continuity of an individual’s personal development and improvement as the main modes of existence. The formation of any function (physiological, psychophysiological, mental) occurs continuously from birth to old age, with different aspects of the features changing with varying degrees of intensity (Boerner, Carr, & Moorman, 2013). It indicates that a unified scientific theory of individual mental development cannot be built without marked improvement of its central section, which is the psychology of maturity and aging.

Moreover, it is necessary to remember that there is no clear definition of the boundaries of this stage of ontogenesis in psychology. As a rule, scientists distinguish between two age groups – from 60 to 75 years old and over 75 years old, which are not identical in their psychological and medical conditions (Miller et al., 2006). For people in the first group, the preservation of a sufficiently high level of activity is typical. The most significant problems for them are a violation of socio-psychological adaptation and the psychological discomfort caused by it (Gordon & Perri, 2015). For those in the second group, medical problems associated with poor health, weakness, and often the need for constant care come to the fore.

Mental changes observed in the process of aging are associated with the operations of involution in the central nervous system. A noticeable increase in reaction time is considered the most common and universal sign of the onset of aging. It is manifested in the reduction of strength and mobility of the vital processes (Boerner et al., 2013). It covers the majority of sensory functions, such as sight, hearing, taste, and touch (Boerner et al., 2013). Aging also involves the degradation of motor skills, perception of the new, memorizing, and all human behavior, including the ability to adapt to changing conditions (Carter, Solberg, & Solberg, 2017). Primary aging reduces the perceptual speed of solving problems, and the speed with which information is processed in the CNS (Boerner et al., 2013). Secondary aging affects not only the rate of perception but also logical reasoning, such as induction, solving abstract problems, regular operations (Miller et al., 2006). Finally, in the final period, the issues also affect other levels of intelligence, complementing the picture with changes in conceptual thinking.

Intervention

At the end of life, an individual’s existence should bring satisfaction and happiness. Therefore, it is critical to organize the supporting circle around older adults’ interests and their issues. Among the key points to be remembered when developing assistance work with older people is the uniqueness of individual experience, the need for a biological and psychological approach to old age (Boerner et al., 2013). It also involves the importance of the social environment with its support and mutual assistance, the public attitude to weakness in old age, and the concept of personal resources available to any person. Organizational and methodological assistance work with older adults includes the definition of the problem of the treatment of an older person to a social worker, diagnosis, and assistance planning (Miller et al., 2006). It additionally involves uniting efforts with other specialists in order to fully resolve the problem and supportive work with the family of an older person.

When an older adult gets into the assistance service department, he/she becomes a client. The appearance means that the support worker’s responsibility to commit actions for this client comes. The worker starts working with an elderly client by receiving answers to the questions on topics, such as problems, reasons, support circle, and the importance of the issue (Johnson, 2003). Due to these questions, it is possible to determine how many people were influenced by the subject, and what crisis event led an older person to help. Before taking follow-up actions, the supportive care worker needs to remove the client’s passivity in accepting the situation with appropriate questions and restore the initiative (Carter et al., 2017). If there is a need, to describe the full picture, the social worker seeks agreement on contact with other people, with the client’s family. An older client’s agreement to cooperate is an opportunity for further discussions, interviews, and family meetings.

The diagnosis of the problem begins with a short setup interview. It is estimated that the diagnosis requires at least an hour of interviews since the question must be clarified (Boerner et al., 2013). Such a discussion should be generalized, which means that it covers aspects of health, daily life, the emotional needs of the client, expressed in depression, anxiety or unhappiness, and feelings of dependence. Weighing all these facts and gives an understanding of the degree of difficulty of the problem. In social diagnosis, a significant place is occupied by obtaining information about the client.

Information can be obtained from a survey of a person, his living and leisure conditions, environment, as well as using questionnaires. For example, some questions are associated with the task of identifying the factors that pose a risk to one’s life (Carter et al., 2017). Another purpose of obtaining information may be the study of the social conditions of life of an older adult, for example, when cleaning his/her apartment or room (Gordon & Perri, 2015). Food features can also be a source of obtaining the necessary information about the client. It is crucial to get information about the family, friends, religious beliefs, and spiritual interests of an older person in order to create a complete picture necessary for making a correct social diagnosis.

Analysis

In old age, there is a shift to the negative side of the character traits inherent in people due to age-related changes. Thus, these personality shifts should be handled with care and assistance. For example, some people with disturbingly suspicious traits become even more suspicious, anxious, and assumptive, and the calculating ones develop pettiness and stinginess (Johnson, 2003). When all these features are accentuated, they end up with a constant fear of being robbed and becoming a beggar. The principle and hardness of installations are often transformed into intransigence, the rejection of a different opinion, give rise to a “war of generations”, conflicts with others (Gordon & Perri, 2015). Emotional incontinence sharpens to conflict, often to the complete loss of control over emotional reactions. Sensitivity can develop into persistent low self-esteem, and in the acute period, manifest itself in depression, feelings of inferiority, and mania of persecution.

At the same time, new personal characteristics do not appear in old age, neither moral nor social qualities of a person are lost. The cynical or psychopathic features that manifest themselves in the elderly have been in the bud and their youth (Johnson, 2003). Due to deteriorating health, manifestations of suspicion, anxiety, uncertainty about the future, and a decline in life and social perspective, older adults are more susceptible to panic. It is harder for them to adapt to changes in personal growth and society (Carter et al., 2017). At the same time, temporary decompensation of mental activity often occurs.

Along with these negative shifts in character, many people in old age experience positive changes. It is often possible to observe tranquility, a departure from petty interests, a transition from the hustle and bustle of life to the comprehension of core values. It also involves an adequate assessment of one’s new possibilities and the smoothing of different character traits (Johnson, 2003). By considering the changes in character in old age, it is impossible to strictly distinguish between the indicated tendencies, for both negative and positive changes can be observed in the same person.

People of late age are forced not only to adapt to changes in the social situation but also to respond to changes in themselves. It raises the question of self-esteem at a later age: how does an older adult assess himself and his existence in the light of new circumstances. Most scientists are of the opinion that memory impairment is the main sign of mental aging (Carter et al., 2017). Memory disorders are the first symptom of age-related organic psychoses of a later age. However, mnemonic disorders are also revealed in the picture of favorable mental aging, when throughout the entire period, all personal and social characteristics of a person remain unchanged. At the same time, the decline in memory functions associated with aging is not observed in all older people (Gordon & Perri, 2015). Modern studies indicate a discrepancy between the subjective complaints of the elderly to memory impairment and the actual ability to memorize.

Severe anxiety affects such parameters as logical memory and mental control. Scientists also note the uneven decline in various memory functions with age. In particular, long-term memory deteriorates faster than the amount of short-term and direct memory (Gordon & Perri, 2015). The gradual decrease in mental performance and the anticipated weakening of the operational mind are especially pronounced against the background of the clarity of the distant past. The logical-semantic memory remains intact, which helps the processing and storage of logical and systematic material, helping to overcome some of the shortcomings of the mechanical mind. Most scholars note that the problem of memory impairment is closely related to a proper attitude to the past, and the role of memories in the life of an elderly and older person (Boerner et al., 2013). Such an attitude to the past makes up a significant part of the mental life of an older adult. The phenomenon of unique, emotionally colored, views of the elderly to the past draws attention to itself (Gordon & Perri, 2015). Therefore, in working with older people, it is useful to apply the method of biographical interviewing in order to highlight the real events in the life of an older person. Such stimulation of memories helps older people to accept their lives, to understand that it was lived not in vain.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there a number of both emotional and physiological events occurring before an individual’s end of life. These personality shifts should shape the support and assistance procedures in order to bring them both a healthy mental state and physical condition. Psychological changes that occur in the process of aging, set as a primary task the study of the characteristics of the social behavior of the elderly. The problem of communication between older people, and their adaptation to new roles and living conditions not only exists but is also more significant for this age period compared to the previous one. Successful socialization of older people is one of the main requirements for maintaining a high quality of their life. The economic and medical problems faced by people of late age, but the level of medical care and material support does not correlate directly with the level of psychological comfort and the optimal lifestyle for a person.

Among the most critical problems associated with raising the level of their own lives, older people refer to loneliness, health, and economic issues. Thus, despite the relevance of high-quality medical care and material support, almost all older people are equally plagued by psychological problems. These issues include a violation of the usual way of life, lack of attention from society and loved ones, and loneliness. However, a characteristic feature of theoretical approaches to the problems of aging is the collective attempt of all to hide from the answer to the question posed by private reasoning or research. Nevertheless, there are ongoing improvements in the orientation of modern society to humanistic beginnings, and the growth of a common culture and consciousness. These changes deepen and actualize the task of theoretical and practical research of the phenomenon of old age and its social assessment. They also determine the demand for knowledge about the place and interaction of different age groups and their different socio-psychological characteristics.

References

Carter, C. S., Solberg, L. B., & Solberg, L. M. (2017). Applying theories of adult learning in developing online programs in gerontology. Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, 23(2), 197-205.

Boerner, K., Carr, D., & Moorman, S. (2013). Family relationships and advance care planning: do supportive and critical relations encourage or hinder planning? Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 68(2), 246-256.

Gordon, M. & Perri, G. (2015). Conflicting demands of family at the end of life and challenges for the palliative care team. Annals of Long-Term Care: Clinical Care and Aging, 23(1), 25-28.

Johnson, L. S. (2003). Facilitating spiritual meaning-making for the individual with a diagnosis of a terminal illness. Counseling and Values, 47(3), 230-240.

Miller, P. J., Hedlund, S. C., & Soule, A. B. (2006). Conversations at the end of life: The challenge to support patients who consider death with dignity in Oregon Actions. Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life & Palliative Care, 2(2), 25-43.

The evaluation of older people varies from that of younger individuals. Geriatric patients often have multiple comorbidities that make diagnosing challenges. Moreover, their health often changes due to age, where various physical conditions and psychological patterns occur as a part of the aging process (Resnick, 2016). Therefore, geriatric assessment procedures should have their specific standards and activities to separate abnormal alterations from common occurrences. One of these approaches is the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) that incorporates detailed data about older patients’ unique health aspects (Rosen & Reuben, 2011). The benefit of the CGA’s attention to a selected number of factors is that it lowers adverse outcomes in older patients (Avelino-Silva et al., 2014). By using the information from the CGA, one can identify problems in geriatric patients’ health and locate issues that could otherwise be misdiagnosed with generic assignments.

Finding Differences

To differentiate between normal and abnormal changes, one should recognize that standard assessment practices may be ineffective on their own. For instance, the comparison of past medical history and present examination alone cannot reveal whether the condition is a sign of age or an unrelated illness (Rosen & Reuben, 2011). Thus, a geriatric assessment should incorporate more information that pertains to various spheres of the patient’s health – his/her social, psychological, economic, cognitive, spiritual, and other statuses. Moreover, special tools should be used to evaluate age-related changes. For example, weight loss is a characteristic of age-related frailty; however, the patient’s social and psychological assessments may reveal that this person has some underlying problems – mental illnesses (depression) or socioeconomic barriers (poverty) (Holroyd-Leduc & Reddy, 2012; Rosen & Reuben, 2011). As a result, such a multifunctional assessment can show that weight loss is influenced by the patient’s depression, a condition that should be addressed as well.

The provided example mentions only one of the frailty signs, other ones being slowness, exhaustion, impaired strength, and low energy or physical activity (Holroyd-Leduc & Reddy, 2012). The process of evaluating these factors should be followed by additional tests and discussions with the patient. Similar to weight loss being an outcome of aging or further issues, the other characteristics can also be developed as normal and abnormal responses of one’s body. For this reason, the CGA remains a valuable tool for treating geriatric patients.

CGA includes a variety of assessment checklists and activities that help review how a patient performs daily activities. For instance, functional assessment tools are focused on BADLs (“basic activities of daily living”), IADLs (“instrumental activities of daily living”), and AADLs (“advanced activities of daily living”) (Rosen & Reuben, 2011, p. 494). Answering these questions can help physicians to evaluate patients’ abilities and locate some problems that need further examination. Furthermore, social and economic assessment can reveal links between patients’ beliefs or behaviors and their health, as mentioned in the weight loss example above.

Conclusion

Overall, medical professionals need to pay significant attention to geriatric patient’s daily living activities and environment. A physical examination may reveal problems but not their causes due to older patients’ aging processes. Thus, a more comprehensive assessment such as CGA is required to distinguish normal changes from abnormal developments. The evaluation of one’s daily living activities, independence, socioeconomic status, relationships, and mental health can provide more information about the patient and describe the reasons behind his/her illnesses and behaviors.

References

Avelino-Silva, T. J., Farfel, J. M., Curiati, J. A., Amaral, J. R., Campora, F., & Jacob-Filho, W. (2014). Comprehensive geriatric assessment predicts mortality and adverse outcomes in hospitalized older adults. BMC Geriatrics, 14(129), 1-8.

Holroyd-Leduc, J., & Reddy, M. (Eds.). (2012). Evidence-based geriatric medicine: A practical clinical guide. Hoboken, NJ: Blackwell Publishing.

Resnick, B. (Ed.). (2016). Geriatric nursing review syllabus: A core curriculum in advanced practice geriatric nursing (5th ed.). New York, NY: American Geriatrics Society.

Rosen, S. L., & Reuben, D. B. (2011). Geriatric assessment tools. Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine: A Journal of Translational and Personalized Medicine, 78(4), 489-497.

Introduction

Nurse practitioners (NPs) can work in different settings to provide exemplary and sustainable health services to their patients. They can also consider existing or new theories to meet the needs of the greatest number of people. This paper discusses my future professional practice role as an adult-gerontology primary care NP. It also examines how Martha Rogers’ Science of Unitary Beings theory can support practitioners in adult-gerontology to manage chronic diseases.

My Future Professional Practice

The selected role or field is that of adult-gerontology. This means that I will specialize in comprehensive and continuing medical support for individuals across the lifespan. It is necessary to develop adequate competencies and models that can result in exemplary services. Concepts such as cultural competence, multidisciplinary teams, and health technology are critical for professionals in this field (Hassmiller & Reinhard, 2015). I will engage in lifelong learning in an attempt to acquire new ideas that can empower me as an adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner (AGPCNP).

Emerging Trend

The field of adult-gerontology continues to attract many professionals to provide exemplary medical services to young adults, adolescents, and the elderly. Due to the complexity of this practice area, researchers have identified various trends within the past few years. One of these changes is that more citizens and caregivers in the United States are now focusing on chronic illness management. The number of people with terminal conditions has been on the rise.

Some of the leading diseases include diabetes, cancer, arthritis, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and kidney failure (Hassmiller & Reinhard, 2015). The affected individuals require exemplary medical support and care if they are to lead high-quality lives.

This trend will make it possible for more AGPCNPs to develop superior health promotion initiatives and programs. They should also collaborate with other professionals and family members to empower their patients. The concept of proactive care delivery will also become necessary if positive results are to be recorded (Phillips, 2015). NPs in the field will continue to identify emerging concepts and apply them accordingly to improve their patients’ experiences. Practitioners who are aware of this trend will formulate evidence-based philosophies and eventually achieve their potential.

Proposed Theory

The above change in the field of adult-gerontology requires NPs to consider the benefits of Martha Rogers’ Science of Unitary Beings. This model uses the four meta paradigms of nursing to describe how individuals with chronic illnesses can still lead a healthy life (Phillips, 2015). Practitioners can, therefore, consider emerging evidence and ideas to offer adequate support and medical services to targeted patients.

With the application of this nursing theory, caregivers, and clinicians in the field of gerontology can encourage and guide targeted individuals to engage in self-care practices. Family members and relatives will receive adequate instructions to support these patients. The selected theory can also ensure that patients with terminal diseases are capable of pursuing their aims in life (Phillips, 2015). This is the case since more people are currently living with medical conditions that require continuous management.

Conclusion

The above discussion has revealed that practitioners in the field of adult-gerontology should monitor emerging trends to develop appropriate care delivery models. Martha Rogers’ theory stands out as a powerful model for guiding patients with chronic conditions to engage in self-care and management practices. Such an initiative will transform the United States’ healthcare sector.

References

Hassmiller, S. B., & Reinhard, S. C. (2015). A bold new vision for America’s health care system. Nursing Outlook, 63(1), 41-47. Web.

Phillips, J. R. (2015). Rogers’ science of unitary human beings: Beyond the frontier of science. Nursing Science Quarterly, Nursing Science Quarterly, 29(1), 38-46. Web.

Introduction

An essential element of delivering high-quality care to patients is composing a plan of care, in which suggestions are made as per the way to organize the patient’s treatment and nursing care provided to him or her based on specific patient details. The patient in the presented case is a 74-year-old Asian female initially admitted with complaints about occipital pain. The current diagnosis is encephalopathy, but it needs to be further specified, for which purpose additional tests are required. To design an adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner (AGPCNP) plan of care, it is necessary to recommend appropriate interventions, to explore potential and actual considerations from the perspectives of ethics, law, and culture, and to describe the pursued outcomes and the ways in which the outcomes will be evaluated.

Interventions

Intervention suggested in the framework of the AGPCNP plan of care will primarily include further diagnostic testing, scheduling, evaluation of the patient’s mental status, injury protection, and education. First of all, the diagnosis needs to be specified because different kinds of encephalopathy will require different interventions later in the treatment progress. Concerning scheduling, it is important to maintain the patient’s circadian rhythms (Baird, 2015). This can be achieved by keeping appropriate lighting in the patient’s physical setting and encouraging the patient to engage in correlated daily activities. Concerning the evaluation of the patient’s mental status, Baird (2015) suggests tracking such changes as tendencies to display childish behaviors, demonstration of intellectual impairment, or slurred speech. Also, the author recommends administering handwriting tests, in which deteriorations of the disease can be exposed.

Further, it is important to ensure patient safety and prevent injuries. These efforts should be aimed not only at modifying the physical environment in a way that minimizes risks of falls and other incidents that may cause injuries but also at engaging the patient in risk management. Latimer, Chaboyer, and Gillespie (2014) suggest encouraging patients to be proactive in terms of injury prevention and act as initiators of preventive measures that may be recommended by nursing care providers. However, to achieve such proactive attitudes, it is primarily necessary to provide appropriate education to the patient. Education should be continuous and focused on the specific aspects of the diagnosed condition. Also, it is important that the role of evaluation should not be overlooked; the patient will be asked to repeat information gained from the educational materials back to the nurse practitioner acting as the educator.

Potential and Actual Considerations

Potential and actual considerations can be related to ethical, legal, and cultural aspects of care. Ethical considerations primarily include complying with nursing ethics principles; specifically, nonmaleficence and autonomy (Cherry & Jacob, 2016). It should be ensured that the proposed interventions do not harm the patient and do not cause additional health problems or complications. For example, if the patient displays dissatisfaction with the tests administered by the AGPCNP, it may indicate that the tests worsen her confusion and should, therefore, be revised. This strategy will also show adherence to the principle of autonomy: despite the condition affecting her brain, the patient should be respected as a person capable of making independent decisions concerning her treatment and the management of encephalopathy. Therefore, if the patient resists the plan of care, feedback should be obtained from her, and the plan should be revised based on it.

Concerning legal considerations, Cherry and Jacob (2016) suggest ensuring that the proposed interventions are compliant with licensure requirements and the scope of nursing practice. To address this aspect, it is necessary to define the boundaries of nurses’ responsibilities according to the current legislation, specific licensure provisions, and the facility’s regulations. If the proposed interventions have been delivered in the facility by nursing care providers before, it can be expected that no legal complications will occur. In the context of cultural considerations, no actual circumstances are present in the case; however, if the patient displays an unwillingness to engage in the delivery of care to her or resistance to treatment measures, it may be caused by her cultural background. In this case, the patient should be asked to explain what causes her unwillingness or resistance, and if it is found out that her beliefs or traditions she adheres to due to her cultural background are the reason, the nurse practitioner should demonstrate the cultural competency. If possible, the plan of care should be modified to reduce the patient’s discomfort caused by perceived disrespect toward her culture.

Outcomes and Indicators

The pursued outcomes are associated with such areas of care as health promotion and maintenance, disease prevention, and illness management. First of all, it is expected that the diagnosis will be further specified, and the treatment plan will be adjusted accordingly. Appropriate tests will allow taking diagnostic measures, and, as a result, the patient’s symptoms will be better explained. Second, the patient is expected to commit to a planned schedule; the indicators of this outcome will be the patient’s adherence to the daily activities timetable and, importantly, her willingness to adhere. The patient’s willingness to adhere to prescriptions in general, as opposed to compliance with them (Kardas, Lewek, & Matyjaszczyk, 2013), will be an important indicator of the success of the patient education, too. If the patient does not understand the importance of certain prescribed practices, this will be considered a failure or weakness of patient education.

Another important educational outcome is the patient’s understanding of her condition and its management. This outcome can be measured by the level of patient education retention: if the patient manages to repeat key aspects of the educational materials back to the educator, education will be regarded as properly provided. If the level of retention is low, the educational session (or sessions) should be repeated. It is recommended to initially structure the educational materials into sections and points; this will allow further estimating the percentage of knowledge retained by the patient. According to White, Garbez, Carroll, Brinker, and Howie-Esquivel (2013), this approach to patient education can be more effective and efficient than the conventional provision of education without asking the patient to repeat what he or she understood.

Another important outcome is a higher level of control of the patient’s state and progress. This outcome can be measured only if mental status changes occur; in this case, they will be detected by the nursing care provider (either in observation according to predetermined criteria (see Interventions) or during daily tests, such as the handwriting test). The speed of responding and making modifications in the plan of care is the way to measure the effectiveness of these health maintenance activities. Concerning the injury prevention-related aspect of the plan of care, its effectiveness is expressed in such an outcome as the patient’s physical integrity, and the way to measure the outcome is to assess the patient’s injuries if any, and the frequency of incidents that are likely to call injuries; e.g., falls.

The described outcomes will allow evaluating the effectiveness of the proposed interventions; moreover, evidence will be obtained for the clinical application of such interventions mostly derived from the relevant academic literature. Concerning the cost-effectiveness, it is not expected that the interventions will require significant additional funding because all the measures proposed in the presented plan of care are normally part of the nurse practitioner’s scope of practice. However, the suggestions show how the work of an AGPCNP should be organized and structured, and what additional elements (such as patient education evaluation) should be integrated into it so that better patient outcomes are achieved. Finally, a crucial indicator of the success of attaining pursued outcomes is the patient’s and her family’s satisfaction (Aiken et al., 2012). It can be measured by collecting and analyzing patient feedback.

Conclusion

The presented plan of care suggests that it is primarily important to specify the patient’s diagnosis; while the necessary tests are being administered, the AGPCNP should ensure the patient’s safety and adherence to practices that make positive contributions to the treatment progress. These practices include following a certain schedule, avoiding incidents that may cause injuries, and willingly adhering to prescriptions. Patient education featuring the evaluation of retention will allow ensuring patient engagement. Regular tests (such as the handwriting tests) will help monitor the patient’s state and progress and detect any deterioration in a timely manner. Based on clinical outcomes, education retention, and patient education, the effectiveness of the proposed interventions can be further confirmed.

References

Aiken, L. H., Sermeus, W., Van den Heede, K., Sloane, D. M., Busse, R., McKee, M., … Tishelman, C. (2012). Patient safety, satisfaction, and quality of hospital care: Cross sectional surveys of nurses and patients in 12 countries in Europe and the United States. BMJ, 344(e1717), 1-14.

Baird, M. S. (2015). Manual of critical care nursing: Nursing interventions and collaborative management (7th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Health Sciences.

Cherry, B., & Jacob, S. R. (2016). Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management (7th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Health Sciences.

Kardas, P., Lewek, P., & Matyjaszczyk, M. (2013). Determinants of patient adherence: A review of systematic reviews. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 4(91), 1-16.

Latimer, S., Chaboyer, W., & Gillespie, B. (2014). Patient participation in pressure injury prevention: Giving patient’s a voice. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 28(4), 648-656.

White, M., Garbez, R., Carroll, M., Brinker, E., & Howie-Esquivel, J. (2013). Is “teach-back” associated with knowledge retention and hospital readmission in hospitalized heart failure patients? Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 28(2), 137-146.

Due to the increased vulnerability to external factors, aging adults need constant support and regular health services from nurses and health experts. Therefore, it is essential for a nurse tending to the needs of the specified patients to build a gerontological competency that will guide them through the tasks of addressing aging patients’ concerns (Hash, Jurkowski, & Krout, 2015). Oral health is typically glanced over in aging patients as an issue of ostensibly lesser importance (“Aging in rural places – Part 9, oral health and rural elders,” n.d.). However, the problem needs to be studied and managed on a larger level due to the impact that its development produces on the quality of aging patients’ lives. To encompass the multifaceted nature of aging people’s health concerns, healthcare experts working in rural settings build competencies such as leadership and a clear understanding of the rural environment.

By introducing active collaboration between aging patients and local healthcare practitioners, one will be able to reduce the range of health issues linked to age-specific problems such as oral hygiene and other health problems that aging people tend to have. The isolated nature of rural communities demands the introduction of a program that could introduce the target demographic to crucial guidelines for health management and educate them about self-care (“Community health workers toolkit,” n.d.). As a gerontologist, one will have to provide constant support and useful guidance to the target demographic to assist them in learning basic self-care management strategies, including oral hygiene (“Rural oral health toolkit,” n.d.). The development of the required competency will include acquiring leadership qualities that will help to motivate aging patients to gain new knowledge about preventing health crises (“Rural healthcare workforce,” n.d.). Furthermore, as a gerontologist, one will have to consider building communication strategies for addressing workplace conflicts, patient education, and patients’ personal data transfer. The suggested competencies will help a gerontologist to create the basis for tending to the culture-specific needs of aging patients in the future.

References

Aging in rural places – Part 9, oral health and rural elders. (n.d.). Web.

Community health workers toolkit. (n.d.). Web.

Hash, K. M., Jurkowski, E. T., & Krout, J. A. (2015). Aging in rural places. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, LLC.

Rural healthcare workforce. (n.d.). Web.

Rural oral health toolkit. (n.d.). Web.

Aging refers to a biological process of growing old. The study of the biological process is referred to as gerontology. While many people associate aging with its negative aspects such as senility and dementia, gerontology is an objective study of aging that aims at achieving a holistic understanding of the process. It is important to highlight that aging process elicits different meanings in the academic circles. Hansen (2012) says that aging refers to accretion of psychological, social and physical changes that people experience over time. Hansen (2012) points out that aging is a critical process of human life and societies especially when attempting to understand the biological processes and changes that typify human life. Aging process is counterproductive to social organization given that old people become dependent on younger generation (Hansen, 2012). Besides, many governments spend huge amounts of financial resources to care for the elderly. This does not only make aging process an important aspect of societies but also an important process of economic and social organization in a country.

Gerontological nursing is a sub discipline of nursing that studies health care issues of the elderly in society (Pascucci, 2008). The field of nursing has integrated a more proactive approach of caring for communities and enhancing preventive care. Subsequently, gerontological nursing converges with the increase of nursing activities within communities (Hansen, 2012). This is in lieu of the fact that industrialized nations have large numbers of the elderly. The rationale is that fertility rates have declined tremendously in these countries. To that end, it is important to highlight that over hundred thousand people die in the United States die annually owing to age-related complications (Pascucci, 2008). The profession of nursing therefore targets communities to address issues that relate to aging and other aspects of preventive and curative care.

According to statistics released by US administration on aging, over 42% of the total population was above 60 years in 2010 (Kennedy, 2011). This reflects a slow growth of the aging population when compared to statistics released by the same organization in 2000. In fact, almost 40% of the population was above sixty years (Hansen, 2012). As such, it is apparent that almost half of the population is aging rapidly. The field of nursing therefore plays an important role in enhancing the health and longevity of the elderly (Pascucci, 2008). This is in lieu of the fact that the older population requires constant and frequent health care services. According to Hansen (2012), roughly 56% of the elderly could neither afford nor access healthcare services by 2010. To that end, gerontological nursing aims at ensuring that the rising number of the aging population accesses universal health care by 2020. This was also a major target and goal set out by US Health department.

Aging population suffers from various age-related complications. Ranging from dementia to Parkinson disorders, old people are susceptible to many health conditions (Kennedy, 2011). Professional nursing practitioners ought to integrate nursing processes to address many issues that people in this age category face. Undoubtedly, many old people suffer from mental illnesses. To help them cope with the illnesses, it is important for gerontological nurses to assess the mental condition of the person (Hansen, 2012). Besides, planning is an important aspect of nursing process. The practitioner should schedule therapeutic sessions in a way that increases the chances of recuperation. This way, the country will be able to achieve its objectives by reducing mental illnesses among the elderly.

References

Hansen, K. (2012). A Concept Analysis of Healthy Aging. Nursing Forum, 40(2), 45-57.

Kennedy, G. (2011). Geriatric Mental Health Care: A Treatment Guide for Health Professionals. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 6(5), 67-89.

Pascucci, M. (2008). A Message for Boomers: Take Good Care of Yourself. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 34(3), 3-7.