Challenges Facing The Elderly Population

The challenge America now faces is the number of people reaching retirement will double in number by 2030, and the U.S. population will increase almost 20 percent ("Our Aging Nation," 2015). The goal is for the elderly to maintain and live with independence and dignity, as well as, provide a wide range of professional health and social service expertise, home care, and residential support and services that will be needed ("Our Aging Nation," 2015). Since the number of caregivers needed for this population will not be able to meet the demands other resolutions are considered necessary.

More people are living much longer lives than in years past. People are very surprised to be living much longer lives than they thought they would. Health care has played a large part in patient longevity. There are many normal changes that come along with aging, however, because people are living longer these normal changes can become chronic problems. Common aging problems that can make the older adult a vulnerable population are reviewed in Gerontological Nursing (Tabloski, 2014) and can include nutritional needs, medication management, sleep changes, oral or mouth care, renal problems and musculoskeletal concerns. According to A Profile of Older Americans: 2013 (http://www.hhs.gov), there are a large amount

As a person ages, theirs body cannot perform the way it used to. This will cause many elderly people to loose their job or choose to go into retirement. Both of these options cause a loss in health care as well and a reduced or exterminated income. Here alone lies a reason that the elderly population is challenged. The elderly population also has a tendency to develop a chronic illness that can be life threatening if not treated or controlled properly. This means that need for health care treatments also increases. At least 40% of those over age 65 will have nutrition-related health problems requiring treatment or management (Gigante, 2012). It is important to realize that 10% of people over the age of 65 and will develop Alzheimer’s disease and 50% of those over the age of 85 will develop this disease (Gigante, 2012). More elderly African American men and women use government aid than white men and women. Therefore, this population will be vulnerable because of the lack of funding, proper health care and insurance.

daunting task of caring for a rapidly aging and ever expanding population1—the corollary of which is increased need for

The elderly population is growing with 35 million people who are age 65 years or older and half are between the ages of 65 to 74 and the other half are over the age of 75. The population age 85 years or older are the fastest growing population (Dubow, 2017). In 1991 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reported that 8 out of 10 people over the age of 60 had one or more chronic diseases or impairments which included arthritis, hypertension, hearing impairment, heart disease, cataracts, deformity or orthopedic impairment, chronic sinusitis,

The patient’s previous function should always be considered so as to know how far the patient has deteriorated and thus be able to consider the decline as either normal or abnormal. Nevertheless, Nathan also mentioned this, saying that older people are not afforded the same history and investigation as younger ones, thus driving basically the same point home. Older patients are discharged quickly without even being properly treated, consequently making their ailment become worse as time passes. We cannot just assume that what a patient is going through is normal and thus unimportant, rather the authors make it clear that we should give older people the same options, care, and patience that we offer to the younger

Caring for the elderly and disabled has always been a relevant issue among American’s; however, not until recently has it become a significant issue within society. Change has occurred in the past couple decade as the workforce dynamics have transitioned from the family based farm living to the inner city, college educated worker who follows opportunity. Decades ago it was common place to have an aging relative live with the family in a multi-generational home; however, that is no longer a practical option in many cases. Although this transitioning of society has created a new issue and that is providing care to those elderly or disabled members of society who cannot rely on the support of family

The phenomenon of the ageing population is bringing pressure worldwide to the healthcare system as people live longer and experience greater comorbidities for longer. This ageing population has a strong effect on the aged care sector of health and nursing as there is greater demand for services and stricter limitations to budgeting and time allocated to administering the care required. This trend is causing additional strain on the staffing retention and skills mixes available to the workers in aged care and it is crucial that management be aware of the factors influencing their staffs’ satisfaction and morale if there is to be any improvement in the numbers of workers staying in aged care. Nurses are in the unique position and are crucial to clinical governance and care in this setting and are a key aspect to delivering great care; nurses are a resource to be greater valued.

Geriatrics is a branch of medicine that specializes in the health of the elderly persons in the society, with the primary goal of promoting their health through the prevention and treatment of various diseases and disabilities. There is no established age limit medically at which a patient is termed geriatric, but the decision is largely guided by the needs of a particular person and the availability of a geriatrician. The elderly persons in the society are always victims of various chronic and severe acute diseases, some of which are incurable and end up killing these patients in a painful manner (Cassidy, 2010). Some of the diseases that these elderly people suffer from include incontinence, loss of memory, immobility,

The geriatric population is a very vulnerable population, which needs great care. The main concerns are attributed to the age, educational background, medication experiences, living conditions and diet. All these contribute to factors which make it difficult to be adherent to their goals, which have been developed to improve their health.

By this time the remaining Baby Boomers, totaling an estimated 70 million people, will be at least 65. This is anticipated to have a notable effect on the current health care system. This coupled with the increasing life expectancy and the decrease in number of young people means that the older adult population will make up a much greater percentage of the population then has ever been experienced. This means that unless something is done immediately then health care workforce will lack the ability and size to meet the needs of this growing older population in the future. Many older adults have numerous compound chronic conditions that require a wide range of skills for meeting their many physical and mental needs.

“Our population is aging rapidly, with the numbers of elders increasing almost four times as fast as the population as a whole” (Seccombe, 2015, p.433). Although we have children and a husband at home, we usually feel that it is our responsibility to take care of our loved ones. This is where a lot of stress begins to form. However, we can deal with stress by talking about it to a loved one, a support group, or taking a day to our selves. So, therefore, there are a lot of strains and stressors on many families who are taking care of an elderly and/or ailing family

There are many physical needs for the elderly that have to be taken care of.

On 1987, Isaac Shepher founded Life Alert, a service where employment aid elderly people contact emergency services ( health, robberies, injuries, etc.). The rise of the company paved the way for others to join the field in hope to keep elderly people in their homes rather than retirement homes. I believe that Shepher created this company because he knew the risks of someone who is over 65 staying by themselves in a home was very high and wanted to challenge that. He wanted to tackle the fact that one in three adults who are over 65 risk falling, which can lead to concerning injuries. He wanted to lessen the 2.3 million people who were brought to the hospital just because of a fall. To improve the problem of elderly people living in an unsafe and uncomfortable environment, a variety of measure to make their lives better.

Minarechova, Radka. "Aging population a growing challenge." Slovak Spectator 08 Sept. 2014: 12. Newspaper Source. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.