Elder Self Neglect And Social Justice

Elder abuse includes physical, emotional, and sexual abuse as well as neglect, exploitation and abandonment of our older generation (Falk, 2012). The people that cause these injuries include the elderly person’s own family and staff members of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, medical rehabilitation facilities and hospitals (NCOA, 2017). There is approximately 1 in 10 older adults that have experienced some type of elder abuse in the United States (NCOA, 2017). Within these staggering numbers, only 1

Neglect by others occurs when either a support worker or a family or friend carer fails to meet someone’s support needs as they do not realise its importance, or because they cannot be bothered, or choose not to provide it.

This can be the product of both ineffective and/or punitive management styles, creating an environment within which abuse can take place, intentional or otherwise.   It could include situations where there are significant numbers of low level, or other, concerns affecting more than one adult and concerns that the systems, processes and / or management of these may be failing to safeguard a number of adults leaving them at risk of harm or significant harm. Being made to follow what individuals think you should follow, set meal times, set bedtimes, freedom restricted, excessive or inappropriate doses of sedation/medication given, personal correspondence being opened by staff.Self Neglect Self-neglect is any failure of an adult to take care of themselves that causes, or is reasonably likely to cause within a short period of time, serious physical, mental or emotional harm or substantial damage to or loss of assets. Self-neglect can happen as a result of an individual 's choice of lifestyle, or the person may be depressed, have poor health, have cognitive (memory or decision making) problems, or be physically unable to care for self. Self-neglect can includeLiving in grossly unsanitary conditions, suffering from an untreated illness, disease or injury, suffering

Self-neglect/Neglect is when a person/carer does not pay attention to their/service users health and well-being. Service users/Carers can neglect themselves/Service users due to illness or depression or might intentionally neglect themselves/service users. The signs and symptoms include: living in dirty conditions, poor personal hygiene, poor nutrition, not getting medical help, not being interested in the way they look, long toe nails not taking medication.

Neglect is the persistent failure to meet an individual’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in serious impairment of the individual’s health or development, such as failing to provide adequate food, shelter and clothing.

SELF NEGLECT: This is defined as the failure of usually an adult to refuse to want to care and protect themselves. Examples living in unsanitary, hazardous condition, failing to eat or drink, prevention of pressure sore and protection ad adequate

Neglect occurs when a health professional, carer or family member fails to provide the level of support or care that that person needs. This neglect can be deliberate or as a result of ignorance of required standards and practices. Again this neglect can result in the failure to meet the person’s physical, medical, nutritional, educational, emotional or social needs.

Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory views every individual as practicing “self-care, a set of learned behaviors, to sustain life, maintain or restore functioning, and bring about a condition of well-being.” (Creasia & Friberg 2011) The nurse uses her/his abilities to assist the patient to overcome current self-care deficits and help the patient achieve her/his best level of self-care. As time passes many of the elderly need more assistance with the activities of daily living. Taking care of themselves physically becomes more difficult, sometimes there is decreased mental acuity, as well as a loss in social contact. In every one of these areas the nurse assists the patient to achieve her/his highest level of self-care. This includes diet, eating, elimination, activity, social interaction, education, awareness of obligations, and the promotion of health. Where possible the nurse will help the patient achieve self-care. Since there are no true cures to the aging process the nurse will be needed more and more

As people get old a few of them will experience changes in cognition with age related capacity rather than intellectual capacity. There are some people who get both disparities of mentally and physically impaired that will led into depression due to aging process of their body. Even though, the forgetfulness is a common among older adults, we as healthcare providers must evaluate altered mental status of the patients. “The evaluation and management of altered mental status are broad and require careful history and physical examination to eliminate life-threatening situations”(Patti & Dulebohn, 2017). Therefore, it is very important to recognize the importance of difference between normal age-related symptoms and developing new health problems that can arise in this specific population. As elders get older their memory lapses it frustrating to them leading them to be more worried about changes in their memory. Nurses have a unique capability to promote a cognitive health and determine the possibilities of potential cases of the impairment in elders. The movie “On Golden Pond” Mr. Norman was a perfect example and showed that his symptoms were interfering with his everyday live when he almost burns down the house with fire, calling Bill by his daughter’s name Chelsea and getting lost in on the lake. Even though, Mr. Norman had heart and dementia problems his wife never discouraged him to do what he liked such as

Self-neglect: Self-neglect is when an individual isn’t looking after themselves which could lead to self harm and neglect.

Are nursing homes abusing and neglecting the elderly? The elderly are abused and neglected in society today by caregivers in nursing homes. Elder abuse or neglect is a single or repeated action occurring within any relationship where there is an overlook of trust which causes injury or distress to an older person.

The issue of elder abuse is clearly an ethical concern. As a caregiver, the nurse has the responsibility to ensure that the environment of the patient is safe and supportive of health and wellness. In the case of an elderly patient who is too frail to engage in effective self-care, the demands upon the nurse increase as the nurse must

To better understand the scope of the problem, it is crucial that society knows what is considered as elder abuse and why it is important to resolve this issue. Elder abuse refers to any intentional or negligent act by a caregiver or any other person that causes harm or a risk of harm to a vulnerable adult. There are many forms in which an elder can be abused, “Elder Abuse and Neglect” Journal of Psychosocial Nursing & Mental Health Services distinguishes between the five most common types of elder abuse as well as their effects and/or common signs and symptoms for each. These types of abuse include physical abuse,

The numerous social changes, life events, and functional declines that are related to the expected aging process all affect the self-concept in the elderly. These changes come along with bodily and functional declines which when combined with a disrupted self-concept, leads to self-neglect. It, therefore, adversely affect the elderly’s health. Self- neglect has been mainly defined as a lack of regard for personal hygiene, social isolation, and a refusal of crucial support and service. The self-neglect severity scale is essential to assist with the assessment of the degree of vulnerability of the elderly’s self-neglect. It is used by the Adult Protective Services (APS) for self-neglect screening. Self-care risks in old patients include an unwillingness

Elder Abuse is defined as any activity performed by an individual whereby these actions cause suffering of the older adult, intentionally or not (Touhy, Jett, Boscart & McCleary, 2012, p. 378). Unfortunately, the incidents of elder abuse continue to rise with the increasing number of people entering older adulthood. It is interesting to note that although elder abuse is highly under reported its occurrence increased three fold over a ten-year period (Friese & Collopy, 2010, p. 61). Certainly, it is a nurse’s duty to provide holistic care to his or her patients, which must include protection from abuse. Elder abuse can take on many forms including physical, emotional, sexual, neglect and financial. It is important to note that for the