Elderly In America

In America, people are changing their views on aging and the elderly. Some of the reasons that the attitudes are changing could be due to more elderly people are remaining in the work place longer, as opposed to retiring early. Riffkin (2014). And there is the fact that we baby boomers are living longer. Even though the U.S. only ranks 53rd with a life expectancy of 79. That’s an increase of one year since 2010. (“The World: Life Expectancy” 2016)

Independence is a socially constructed concept within a capitalistic patriarchal society that serves to marginalize and oppress the elderly members of the society. Why do many women of the elderly population within the United States live alone? What is it about our society that has encouraged the elderly population to live alone and without the vital familial support that is so often necessary for people who are reaching their golden years? Elderly people in the United States are one of the most vulnerable groups of people who have traditionally been marginalized. They are viewed as weak individuals because they are no longer able to physically work for pay. Many of them choose to live alone yet suffer in isolation because of the

Something that American society has not experienced before is how to handle an aging population that is growing quickly and projected to double by the year 2050. The current growth in the number and proportion of older adults in the United States is unprecedented in our nation’s history. By 2050, it is anticipated that Americans aged 65 or older will number nearly 89 million people, or more than double the number of older adults in the United States in 2010 (The State of Aging and Health in America, 2013). Mirroring the aging of the U.S. population as a whole, the number of self-identified LGBT adults age 65 or older is expected to double by 2030 -- from 1.5 million to 3 million (Dennis, 2014). For a marginalized lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community (LGBT), the choice of a health care surrogate to make medical decisions can be very difficult. Issues of discrimination, lack of legal and social support, varying levels of relationship commitment, and complications of disclosure to family and medical professionals (Buckey and Browning, 2013, p.233). The purpose of this research is to address end of life care issues facing the aging LGBT Community which include; issues with advance care planning and surrogate decision-making, issues with a partner and family involvement, and issues with healthcare provider-patient communication.

Older people in modern America are viewed much differently than they once were in the past. Grandparents went from giving every grandchild a very valuable life lesson to being ignored in the streets and at the dinner table. Everyone is so worried about what’s on their phone or tablet that they do not realize how little attention this generation of elders is receiving. Could the recent upgrade in technology be the result of modern America’s neglect towards elders or is it how little people care?

Providing eldercare to sick and aging loved ones increases women’s risk of living in poverty later in life, and specifically at retirement age due to the negative health and financial implications including gaps or decreases in employment, losses in retirement income, and the use of savings to cover out-of-pocket costs (Wakabayashi, Donato, 2006). The elderly population in the United States continues to grow at a significant rate, with estimates that approximately 80 million adults will be over the age of sixty-five by the year 2030 (Bookman, Kimbrel, 2011). Approximately seventy-five percent of elderly persons who require assistance with activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living receive that support in the form

The aging population in the United State is at risk for not only chronic health problems, but abuse including, physical, sexual, psychological/emotional, and/or financial. With the increase number of elders being seen by healthcare professionals it is important to know what suspicions to look for, to report accurately and appropriately.

The United States’ population over 65 years of age is increasing as the baby boomers reach retirement age. Greater life expectancy is a result of people living longer with better nutrition, healthcare, and management of chronic diseases. In the primary care setting, where I work, we have a large patient population of older adults. Caring for middle-aged and elderly patients requires greater time and intensity than caring for most younger patients. It is not unusual for an elderly patient to have six or more chronic conditions and twelve or more prescription medications which require coordination and monitoring. Updated HIPAA consents and Health Care Proxy documents are essential to providing seamless care. Since primary care involves repeated encounters with patients over time, I am quite familiar with many of my patients and their families and, when appropriate, assist families to assure that these are documents are current. Additionally, I have had personal experience caring for an aging family member.

In this discussion post, I will address why I believe the older population are categorized as vulnerable, what puts them at risk and what can be done to eliminate some of the risk. Personally, I believe the older population are vulnerable to many different facets which put them at risk. These facets include; dementia, cognitive and sensory impairments, abuse and neglect, inadequate living conditions, and malnutrition (Culo, 2011).

Elderly people are very delicate, therefore they can only commit to a limited amount of labor. Applying people over the age of sixty five to Military type activities would be unbeneficial to our country. Once you get to a page in your life your body starts to wear and tear, therefore it would be hard for the elderly to do anything in the army. Senior’s in general deserve rest, that they have earned through a long, hard fifty-five years of life. Therefore elderly people should not have to serve our country any longer.

In Canada, the demographic of seniors, who are the age of sixty-five and older, is changing. With the changes in composition of senior population which they account for an ever-increasing proportion in Canada, people should pay more attention to this group. More specifically, with elder abuse. According to Statistics Canada (2010), there has been a steadily increase of the senior’s proportion in Canada, “since 1960, increasing from 8% at the time to 14% in 2009”; by 2036, seniors are projected to account “23% to 25%” of the Canadian population (p3, para.2). An individual might question the importance of these increase percentages in senior population? These number provides that as most of the Canadian population is growing, it may lead to an

inherent bias against black and brown communities may contribute to officers targeting these individuals more. Police departments are primarily made up of white men, especially in the higher positions of administration.. People of color are also more often to be in poverty stricken neighbourhoods and American society loves to demonize and persecute poor people. Broken windows policing is a policy where strict enforcement on even minor offences allegedly ensure peace and public safety. It also targets these groups specifically. The War on Drugs is often times a justification for the aggressive manner that these departments treat drug use a crime instead of an issue of public health. That is why incarceration for low level drug offences affect Blacks and Latinos higher. Finally, the militarized nature of modern policing makes violence a common tactic used by these institutions. As defence department surplus is being distributed, police departments feel justified to use these dangerous tools and tactics to violently address social problems with swat teams and

Further national demographics shifts, such as deferred marriages and childbearing for young adults, reduced family size, and families living at a distance, are also exacerbating this dilemma. Additionally, increasing longevity among older adults will extend the years of assistance needed from their families as caregivers, including some grandchildren (Bookman & Kimbrel, 2011).

Racism exists everywhere, even in the land of “liberty”, the United States of America. There is racism against not only blacks, but also whites, Asians and people other ethnicities. I believe everyone discriminates towards others at one point in their life, including myself, but some of us can learn from it and realize it is wrong. In kindergarten, I remembered an experience that have affected me. One day during recess, I was playing with a group friends and then I was called in for pushing a girl into some mud, which I had not done.

When it come to the demographics of the aging population on the marketing needs and service, patient access to care and satisfaction sometimes suffers. Providing refined services to the patients brought on new pressure for advancement. Unlike health care, the cost of production decreased with technology improvements in other industries. Health care organization has been faced with large capital expenditures in order to keep up with technology to provide better health care services. Physicians and hospitals have had to find ways to provide services and technologies that is more cost effective. There have been times that a patient has been handed off from department to another and from one specialist to another with little regards to the patient’s understanding. Patients have had to wait longer to see the doctor.

The title of the research article I chose to critique is from the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. “Hypertension, orthostatic-hypotension, and the risk of falls in a community-dwelling elderly population: The maintenance of balance, independent living, intellect, and zest in the elderly Boston study”; this title fits well with the content presented in the research article. The independent variables are clearly defined as well as the dependent variables for the research being conducted. The content of the abstract is a very good overview of the content and it is consistent with the content. The abstract summarizes the objective, design, setting, participants, measurements, and results. Problem/Purpose