The Elderly as a Vulnerable Population Essay

With the generation of baby boomers approaching senior age by 2025, it may be difficult for them to adjust to the new technology and implement it in their everyday activities. Baby boomers are commonly known for the rejection of modern conveniences in exchange for traditional technology and for traditional values. So how will this cripple the changing trend of life for the aging population and there to decisions of living at home alone and last but not lease Medicare and the risk factors of making such a life changing decision? These issues create a group who are underserved and vulnerable. Underserved because of the barriers they encounter when caring for themselves by trying to eat healthy and the inadequate health care cost. Vulnerable because of the economic disadvantages and the health conditions they may face while dealing with this financial burden. If these problems are not address we will a heavy burden in our healthcare system.

375). For example, a person with a chronic condition such as cancer or heart disease may already have difficulty managing his/her condition and have less physical ability to cope with stress than someone without such condition. He or she may also be at risk or have other comorbidities, with each affecting the other. Moreover, resilience may be further decreased by their marginalized or disenfranchised status. They may be unable to maintain a full-time job, therefore, have inadequate salary and live at or below poverty level. This, in turn, “has an impact on his or her ability to secure adequate and/or safe housing, essential health care, and pharmacological services” (Lundy & Janes, 2009, p. 616). Therefore, vulnerability results from the combined effects of limited resources, which create a more hazardous situation (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014b).

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.

Current numbers show substantial growth from the eighties, and estimates suggest that the demand for long term care among the elderly will more than double in the next thirty years. (Feder, Komisar, and Niefeld) This growth will exacerbate concerns about balancing institutional and noninstitutional care, assuring quality of care, and most importantly adopting and sustaining financing mechanisms that equitably and adequately protect the elderly who need long-term care.

One dominant economic feature of the healthcare industry is the growing need for both basic and specialized healthcare due to the continued aging of the “Baby Boomer” generation. This generation consists of over 79,000,000 individuals born in the US between 1946 and 1964. As this generation has aged, the need for healthcare has increased dramatically. Let us take a look at some statistics:

Everyone is potentially vulnerable at some point over the extent of one’s lifetime. More specifically, everyone is potentially at risk of poor physical, psychological, or social health. The word vulnerable is defined by the Merrian-Webster’s Dictionary as “capable of being physically wounded” or “open to attack or damage”. Commonly, the word vulnerability indicates one’s susceptibility to health problems, harm or neglect. Some however, maybe more or less susceptible or at risk of poor health at different times in their lives, while certain individuals and communities are more likely to be at risk than others at any given point in time (Aday, 1994). Thus, vulnerable populations may be defined as social groups with an increased susceptibility to adverse health outcomes (Flaskerud & Winslow, 1998).

For the purposes of this essay the Elderly Care Scenario has been selected. The aim of this essay is to discuss the concept of vulnerability and why the patient in the Elderly Care Scenario is vulnerable. With reference to the NMC Code, the second part of the essay will discuss how the scenario demonstrates/does not demonstrate professional values and how the staff could have empowered the patient and demonstrated respect and maintained his dignity. The third part then discusses the anti-discriminatory issues within the scenario and how it could be promoted. The final part is a reflection on the assignment and the lessons learnt.

The baby boomer generation will need more Medicaid services which would place a large financial burden on the program. Compared with previous generations, the baby boomers generation has a higher rate of "diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and obesity" (Barr, 2014). People with multiple chronic conditions are hospitalized more than those with fall or cold. They are more vulnerable and therefore, are more expensive. As a result, a two-fold problem is created. First, there will be a shortage in health care professionals, because baby boomer makeup such a large part of the healthcare field. The second part of the problem is

Social Vulnerability refers to risk as its primary element (Scanlon & Lee, 2007). Every individual is exposed to risk factors therefore; everyone is potentially vulnerable to health problems (Scanlon & Lee, 2007). Social vulnerability consists of various economic, democratic, and cultural variables in relation to an individual’s likelihood of becoming ill (Scanlon & Lee, 2007). The degree of social vulnerability is that an individual experience is greatly reliant on their personal capacity to tolerate adverse influences (Scanlon & Lee, 2007). Each individual will have different strategies and abilities in coping, resisting, and recovering from situations that could result in social vulnerability (Scanlon & Lee, 2007).

census discloses that the county age group is rapidly increasing and the trend will continue grow from a 99,086 to 140,000 by the year 2030 (Maryland Department of Aging, 2014). Research has shown that social inequalities are inter-reliant in the society and the impacts on health are present in all ages, however, it is predominant with the seniors leaving in the community. As it indicates, to reduce these disparities, it requires multi-interventional and collaborative approaches in addressing the various factors of health, it services and it cost. Although the United States has had some effective policies and few good health programs, however, providing a stable and adequate income for most of the seniors and providing a good public health care system goes a long way in improving their health and also increasing life expectancy. Much can and should be done to reduce inequalities that exist among the seniors and public health should take led in addressing the various aspect that affects the seniors. This paper has discussed the barriers to healthcare among the seniors and it has provided innumerable recommendations that would help improve their

Yet of perhaps greatest importance to the American healthcare system and industry is the demographical information of this older population in terms of its particular characteristics and disposition. More specifically, healthcare professionals and policy analysts must understand the aging populations’ economic and living situations, and their overall health status (Jacobsen, Kent, Lee & Mather, 2011). Economic factors are key as they directly pertain to the likelihood of reliance on publically-funded healthcare programs, while “the marital status and living arrangements of the elderly are closely tied to levels of social support, economic well-being, and the availability of caregivers” (Jacobsen et al., 2011, p. 4). The importance of this population’s general health status is, of course, self-explanatory.

Vulnerable population is not limited to a specific disease, race, income, or gender. There are different situations that can cause an individual to be classified into this category. A Vulnerable population can also include the neighborhood where an individual resides because healthcare resources may be limited. The focus of this will include the understanding of how the different biases affect the delivery of healthcare to individuals. It will also include a self-reflection of the learning prior and post about the population. It will identify a character and describe how he or she may be identified in a vulnerable population.

The growing concern regarding the financial security of Medicare is one of particular interest to the nearly 72 million baby boomers that become eligible for this government-assisted, and tax-payer bolstered, program over the next two decades. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2010), there will be a rapid increase in baby-boomers between 2010 and 2030, as the entire baby boomer population move into the 65 years and over category (p.3). Political and financial revisions must be made to ensure the security of Medicare as the numbers of individuals paying into this program are soon to be surpassed by the number of individuals drawing-off this program (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). The elderly are also at a disadvantage with transportation to health care visits, picking up prescriptions, and rehabilitation services. There needs to be an establishment of access not only to primary care providers, hospitals, and rehabilitation services, but access to other aspects of the health care system for the elderly population.

The older adult population in the United States has steadily increased thanks to technology and medical advances. While this definitely is an undeniable achievement, it also creates some challenges that society was not as prevalent to face before. Now that people are living longer it’s also means that often times family members are becoming caregivers to their loved ones during their so called golden years. Not only may it be difficult to care for a loved one, but it also becomes even more burdensome when their loved has a disability. In fact “dementia is one of the major causes of disability and dependency among older people worldwide.” (2016). Fortunately there are adult day centers that serve people with dementia and provide services that can benefit them. However many times caregivers are forgotten about and aren’t provided services that can also benefit them as well. While it does take a bit of pressure off of the caregivers while their loved ones are at the day center, it does not eliminate all the other effects. Many people may not be aware that there are detrimental effects that a caregiver may experience as a result of caring for someone with dementia.

Elderly people account for much of our population in hospitals and assisted living facilities. For the purpose of this paper, I viewed the movie “Up” and concluded many things based on the stereotypical aspects and theories of the elderly. Throughout this paper, I will relate to the movie “Up” to reflect on how the movie influenced my outlook on young and elderly behavior, my view on aging, and describe an activity that I carried out as an empathy exercise to simulate a normal physiological aging process.