Interview with an Older Adult 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 …show more content…
I will be using the patient initials (MK), throughout this paper when I reference her. I asked the patient a list of questions about her life and I will summarize the answers for you now. MK is an alert and oriented 84 year-old female who is happily married and lives with her husband of 56 years. MK is retired and worked as a high school secretary for 20 years in the town she lived in. She grew up in Pennsylvania with her parents and was the oldest of five children. Her family medical history includes cardiac disease and diabetes with all of her brothers and sisters still alive. MK has three of her own children who all live with in a 30 minute drive from her home and they speak frequently on the phone with her and her husband. MK and her husband are going on a vacation together this summer to South Carolina with her son and his family. MK still hosts holidays and family gatherings at her home with only a couple holidays hosted by her son at his home. MK and her husband receive social security and her husband’s pension as their income. They have Medicare and also a supplemental insurance through AARP. MK enjoys her exercise class, reading, her card club, traveling and is also very active in her church including being on the bereavement committee. MK still drives her own car around town to visit friends and shop but prefers not to drive at night
Many elderly and their family cannot determine what are normal aging and what are not; therefore, educating them is the key role for nurses to promote safety and health for older adults. Not only assessing physical changes but also mental health assessment is important because those age-related physical changes may cause depression in older adults, which leads to other problems like “difficulty with sleeping,
The most common health problems within older people and causes of health problem are respiratory and heart disease, stroke, cancer, fractures and diabetes. If we can improve services, we can minimise risks of getting these diseases leading to less health problems and less hospital admissions. Problems like malnutrition are also more common in older people as the prevalence has been estimated to be between 11%-44% in the general hospital population but 29%-61% in older
The late adulthood interview took place on March 29, 2017 at approximately 4:30 p.m. The interviewee’s name was Doris Cotton, who is one of my close cousins. The interview took place in her home in Scooba, MS. The atmosphere of her home was very warm and cozy. Hanging from her living room ceiling was a large chandelier, and she had shiny hardwood flooring of a teak color. Her home also had a sweet smelling aroma of lavender scent. Doris is a 68-year-old, African American, female. She is the second oldest child of five girls. Doris regards herself as a Christian woman who attends church regularly, where she sings in the choir. When asked what she most and least enjoyed about getting older, she stated that she most enjoyed the flexibility of doing things at her own will. She also enjoys that she gets to spend more time with her daughter and granddaughter. She has the freedom to enjoy life and do things that she values, especially since she is retired. One of her least things about getting older is that health issues and
The well-being and safety of your aging loved one is important to you. Since you cannot be with them every day, you want to make sure they are receiving the best care possible. Although, you know that your senior loved one needs assistance at home they might not be as open to the decision. There are things that you can do to communicate your worries and concerns with your aging senior.
The humanity of aging is a concept sometimes hard to grasp. Understanding why we are
I had the privilege of interviewing a 60 year old gentlemen who I will identify as Mr. E to protect his privacy for this assignment. The goal of my interview was to gain insight on aging from an older adult. I interviewed Mr. E in his home on a weekday evening. He expressed appreciation and was surprised that he was the focus of an interview in which his life story and thoughts would be recorded.
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.
Reminiscing to 2010, when I was faced with my grandmother 's illness during the adolescent years in my life I knew that I had a passion to care for the elderly (aging) population. From this passion, it ignited a fire so strong that I pursue my certified nursing assistant certification to gain a better understanding of working with the elderly population. By doing so, it has been a great benefit to my life; aging is an inevitable experience that we all will go through during our life. It is important to ensure that our elderly individuals are still able to enjoy the best quality of life after retirement. However, as we age, there will be a lifestyle change that the aging population must encounter.
There is a documentary from 2006 on PBS called Living Old from Frontline that interviews many elderly patients and their care-takers about living longer and the effect it has on them. It was very interesting to watch because it showed both sides of many problems facing the older adult and their families along with the potential decisions that will need to be made by them as people are living so much longer now. The purpose of this discussion is to address something I learned that I did not previously know, review what I found the most surprising, and what piece of information that will most likely affect my nursing practice after viewing this documentary.
With the population of adults 65 and over steadily climbing, medical professionals and the healthcare system are struggling to keep up. One major issue concerning the healthcare system is that it is not set up properly provide care for these older adults. The physicians today, who regularly see patients, focus mainly has been; diagnose—usually in a 15-20 minute office visit, treat, and cure. Many of these senior citizens have multiple chronic illnesses or diseases, which require time to manage and treat. The problem is that they may not be able to explain what the real problem to a doctor in that time.
Aging is a summary term of complex biological processes that occurs over the course of life. As an individual age’s, they experience a cognitive, functional and social decline that affects their activities of daily living and general health. As a result of these changes, the older population becomes more susceptible to a variety of illnesses. However, nurses can lessen the severity of these aging related illnesses by teaching and providing the best care for their clients in order to decrease the number of elders that suffer from these diseases through a variety of interventions and strategies. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the nurses’ role in promoting healthy aging in the older population, by addressing a significant issue that impairs the health of many older Canadian adults.
Experience working in the field of health care lends insight to the growing needs of the older adult population, and the barriers which impede our capacity to meet them. As the Baby Boomer age is approaching older adulthood, the rise for financial,
No matter how young you, are you could heavily impact someone's education. Some schools have a program where the older students are paired with younger ones. First of all, one way it can help with the younger is teaching them to deal with older people. Second of all, it will help them get experience and show them how to take responsibility. Third of all, it will show them how to be kind to one another.
According to U.S. Census Bureau (2012, 2014), "by 2050, Americans aged 65 or older will number approximately 89 million people, which is more than double the number of older adults in the United States in 2010 ”(As cited in Gilson, & Deldin, 2015, p.392). Because of this increased in the number of elderly patients, more focus is placed on the changes that happened as their body aged and how health care workers can improve their knowledge to provide efficient care.
The shift in demographics will bring with it a need and major adjustments for specific healthcare needs for an older population. Although we may not know what the leading cause of death may be by the year 2050, we do know that there may be a limited number of geriatricians available to help treat these conditions. According to the American Geriatrics Society, it is estimated that nearly 30 percent of older Americans need a geriatrician to help them deal with problems associated with aging. Currently, there are only about 7,500 certified geriatricians in the United States that are capable of handling this population. With the population of older adults expecting to double over the next 15 years, the need for qualified geriatricians will need