Professional Caregivers for the Elderly Essay

Dementia is a progressive disorder that will affect how you’re brain functions and particularly your ability to remember, think and reason. Dementia usually affects older people and are approximately 820,000 people in the UK with the disorder, and around 15,000 are under the age of 65. If the dementia is recognised early enough that are a lot of things that you can be done to make the quality of life better. In a lot of dementia cases the symptoms and quality of life will progress and get worse over a number of years. The most common symptoms of a dementia patient are:

This essay aims to represent an argument between two view points: to remain in their own homes with ongoing support from families and the health system or going to residential aged care of elderly in Australia. Especially, it deals with the issue of increasing ageing population in Australia includes statistical information highlighting some causes and telltales. The context presented is economic and social. It also looks at the effects that increasing of the ageing population has on society, the individual and the Australian economy.

Dementia is an umbrella term used to explain the gradual decline in multiple areas of functions, which includes thinking, perception, communication, memory, languages, reasoning, and the ability to function (Harrison-Dening 2013). Worldwide, 47.5 million people have dementia and there are 7.7 million new cases every year. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia and may contribute to 60–70% of cases. (Alzheimer's society 2014). The complexity of dementia presents a number of behavioural challenges to those who live with dementia and their care providers. Aggressive behaviour seems to be one of the most prevalent challenging behaviours in the different stages of dementia (Weitzel et al 2011). As acute care

Long-term care can be defined as a broad set of paid and unpaid services for people who are mentally or physically disabled, or whose chronic illness places them in need of medical or personal assistance for long periods of time. “It is estimated that there are more than twelve million Americans of all ages whose mix of serious disability and chronic illness places them at the high risk for functional decline, hospitalization, or nursing home placement.” (Benjamin) Several different populations require long-term care services, and the needs of these populations vary. In addition to the elderly, many of the long-term care users are younger persons with physical disabilities; persons with developmental disabilities; and persons with chronic

Alzheimer is a dangerous disease that mostly affects the brain. Alzheimer disease associates itself with a set of symptoms including memory loss as well as talking and thinking challenges. These side effects happen when harm occurs in the cerebrum. The decision to pick between a nursing home care and assisted living for a close person who requires special help is a troublesome dilemma that face numerous families who have Alzheimer patients. Families are often feel poorly prepared to settle on the right choice. The research aims at helping families by looking at the advantages and shortcomings of every sort of consideration. The reason is that before making a decision on that topic, it is important

A continuing care assistant are individuals who assist clients like the elderly and the mentally ill by providing them with the support services and the personal care that they need while promoting a healthy and independent living place in their own homes and long-term care facilities. CCA’s often work in long-term care facilities because, at a long-term care facility, they provide clients/residents with their managing of their medications, the residents have 24 hour supervision, assisted meal service, and personal care and/or nursing. CCA’s have a lot to offer to the nursing homes. They offer personal care and palliative care, assistance with meals, and also with household management.

… should be responsible, compassionate, patient, emotionally stable, and cheerful. In addition, aides should be tactful, honest, and discreet, because they work in private homes. Aides also must be in good health. A physical examination, including State-mandated tests for tuberculosis and other diseases, may be required (BLS, Other Qualifications, para. 1).

The long-term care services delivery system in the United States has changed substantially over the last 30 years . There are approximately 17,000 elderly and disabled persons are receiving care in nursing homes (NNHS, 2004). The number of people using nursing facilities, alternative residential care places, or home care services are projected to increase from 15 million in 2000 to 27 million in 2050 (HHS, 2003). Identifying the best nursing home that would fit their needs can be difficult and time-consuming. Although nursing homes usually provide certain basic care that patients need, some nursing home facilities provides special care for certain types of individuals with special needs. For example, people with dementia, AIDS, ventilator-dependents,

•Required to Be Registered: Home Care Aides who offer non-medical services (sometimes referred to as “private duty” services) must be registered and listed with an online registry administered by the state if they are employed by companies that enlist them to work in clients’ homes. To do this, these workers must receive relevant training mandated by the state each year, and they do need to pay a registration fee to the state. They will also be background-checked (fingerprint-based) and checked for TB.

With over 1.5 million elderly and dependent adults now living in nursing homes throughout the country, abuse and neglect has become a widespread problem. Even though some nursing homes provide good care, many are subjecting helpless residents to needless suffering and death. Most residents in nursing homes are dependent on the staff for most or all their needs such as food, water, medicine, toileting, grooming- almost all their daily care. Unfortunately, many residents in nursing homes today are starved, dehydrated, over-medicated, and suffer painful pressure sores. They are often isolated, ignored and deprived of social contact and stimulation. Because of insufficient and poorly trained staff commonly found in

One of the organizations that help caregivers is Area Agency on Aging. Area Agency on Aging gets basic information about eldercare and referrals to aging-related services and programs

Providers are often not employees, but instead work under a contract. If their contract doesn’t spell out the training requirements specifically, the HCO may not be able to ensure they complete the training to maintain privileges. Additionally, providers continue to be paid on volume, therefore, by requiring them to participate in training, this can decrease their relative value units (RVUs) by which they are paid. Essentially, an organization runs the risk of dissatisfying the providers they work with by requirement them to attend training for which they aren’t paid as it is not productive and they are then losing money as they cannot see patients during that time. This had been the case with Providence in the past. However, when they began their journey toward becoming highly reliable about four years ago, they recognize this was a problem and instead required all caregivers no matter their role within the organization to complete training. Contracted providers were required to complete the training to either credential, or recredential. This represented a potential risk to the organization. Not only were they investing millions of dollars in the materials and the time to train all caregivers organization

"Confusion, Anxiety, Anger and Pain, Despair" these are some of the words that Kaunie Hagensen uses to describe her condition in the poem Lost. (Hagensen 1999) These feelings are shared by many people today who suffer from, or have family members who suffer from Alzheimer's disease. The Encyclopedia of Alzheimer's Disease describes it as being, "a progressive degenerative disease characterized by the death of nerve cells in several areas of the brain. While the most obvious symptom is loss of memory, the disease also causes problems with emotional control, vision, and language." (Turkington 2003, 14) "Alzheimer's disease" has previously been used to describe dementia arising in middle age, but because of the neuropathological

Mr. Trosack is a 72 year old man who fell down a long flight of stairs a month ago, underwent a total hip replacement and is in need of a discharge plan. He completed two weeks of rehabilitation in the hospital for his hip as well as diabetic teaching for his new onset of Diabetes. It was also discovered during this hospitalization that he needed to start taking medication for hypertension. Both he and his family are in denial about what it will take to get him home and deliver the care that is needed.

How can nurses ensure that older people are treated with respect and dignity whist being cared for in hospital or in the community?