...Background of Oral Health Care in Massachusetts Oral health is often considered separate from overall health. However, dental diseases are not only associated but can also lead to heart diseases, stroke, and diabetes. The significance of this correlation is due to the concept that the majority of care in cost excess can be attributed to these medical conditions. Some of the major oral health conditions of concern include tooth decay, gum disease, and oral cancers. As the population begins to shift towards an increase in elderly patients, they are living longer and keeping their teeth longer as well, resulting in an increase in the need for treatment of gum disease and other dental services. These problems can also be a complication of certain medications used to treat systemic diseases. The purpose of this paper is to improve access and quality to oral health care for elderly population in Massachusetts who are residents in Long Term Care facilities. (Clemencia M. Vargas, 2001) The elderly are identified in the U.S. Surgeon General’s report on oral health as one of the most vulnerable populations with regard to poor dental care. In Massachusetts 13.3% of the state’s population are considered seniors, defined as being 65 years of age or older. There are more than 143,000 residents age 85 and older and that number is expected to grow 52% by the 2030. About 45,000 Massachusetts residents live in long term care facilities and there is no one-size-fits-all model of oral health care for this...
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...Design for Elderly Friendly Nurul Hidayah Ahmad Alemi SYS 705 Advanced Interaction Design Universiti Teknologi MARA nurul0903@yahoo.com Abstract—A number of senior citizen population or elderly people increased every year. There are many difficulties and weaknesses involve as we get older such as cognitive disabilities, memory decline, poor vision, thus the assistive technology nowadays should follows some design specification that suitable for an elderly to satisfy and simplify their everyday life needs. Hence, this paper attempts to discuss about the issues, concept, applications and design for elderly friendly in details. Keywords—Elderly: Assistive Technology: Design for Elderly. II. ISSUES In the past few years, people assume elderly pathetic, poor and unfortunate also useless. They have been national development and nation. On the other hand, designer should follow some design guidelines on how to design the assistive technology or application that suitable for the elderly depending on their type of impairment or disabilities. considered not so important in the community. Nowadays, community realize that the elderly should involve or participate in the social and community activities as they had a lot of knowledge, experience and I. INTRODUCTION Elderly is defined as aged 60 years and above. The number of older people is rapidly increasing in Malaysia and also in developing countries [1],[2]. The rapid wisdom that can be shared to give some ideas in the requirement...
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...die there is usually a lot of stress, anxiety and fear. If an individual has a fear of death or thinks they can avoid death then there are seminars and classes that can be taken to try to deal with any anxiety that can be felt because of this. I work in an environment where there can be death every day. I have had a fear of death before and still sometimes still feel scared. It is my hope that as I continue to work I will become less fearful and learns from the others that I am working around. Many of the residents that I work with seem like they are ready to die and they have a plan in place with their families to help with this. It gives the person a way to express how they want their final days. It is not easy to watch a loved one’s health deteriorate, and all the preparation for this does not always make things easy for the family. They know that they have made them as comfortable as possible for this process to happen. It is my hope that as I continue to work that I will...
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...Physiotherapy: working hands on for elderly in residential care A perception of good health inevitably lies in the eyes of the beholder (Strain, LA 1993). While some strive to maintain their bodies in peak physical condition, health management for the elderly in residential care is treated otherwise. Years of labour and strain is evident in their physical appearance, however it is beneath all this which is key to the vitality of their lives. Physiotherapists, also referred to as physical therapists, are one profession working with the elderly to maintain a state of wellbeing for everyday activity and participation. Through prevention, strengthening and mobility, these fundamental areas in elderly conditioning have more than superficial benefits. Nurses, as well as doctors, occupational therapists and specialists, are also crucial to this client group, ensuring the best possible health is maintained. Physiotherapists are aptly equipped with the skills and knowledge to assess individual patients and prevent avoidable mishaps from occurring. Elderly people over the age of 65 are more likely to experience incidents such as falls due to arthritis, prescribed medications and general impairment (Tinetti, ME 2003). Exercise prescription programs can specifically target areas to achieve maximum range of movement and reduce these risk factors. Researchers at Yale School of Medicine found that falls among the elderly were reduced by 11 percent when clinicians incorporated management...
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...take care of the elderly. The cost for care has gone up also, making more families opt to keep their loved ones at home instead of sending them to the nursing homes. The fear of elder abuse is higher now because of the cost rise in elder care. Nursing homes are being frowned upon because they do not have enough staff to properly take care of the patients they have. This presents a big problem for society because either choice, nursing homes or in home care can have a negative outcome for our elderly. Abuse is happening more often because we were not prepared in advance to take care of this jump in patients. This paper will look at this issue from a utilitarianism point of view as well as an emotivism point of view. From a utilitarianism point of view the best way to fix this problem would be for more people to pay attention to the elderly. Everyone working together to fix this issue would be the best route. Leaving it to only a few people is not going to work. Laws have been passed and yet we still have elder abuse going on. For the elderly that are being taken care of in their homes there should be more than one family member taking care of the person when at all possible. Each family member could take turns so that no one person gets over loaded and stressed out. That would keep them from taking it out on the elder family member. In a commentary in the Los Angeles Sentinel Meyer (2004) wrote "Elder Abuse is the mistreatment of an elderly person by someone...
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...in the perspective of health care are those people who have many health issues that are exposed to more than average risk in terms of, physical, psychological, or social health. The main victims of Vulnerability are the elderly. The elderly are more susceptible to functional deterioration and therefore need special support and medical attention in the health care context. Caring for elderly people, especially those with medical problems can be nerve-racking, and that can combine with other stressors, such as financial or marital problems, and will further cause caregivers to become neglectful .In the long run caregivers become encouraged to send their old folks to medical facilities or senior homes. Elderly people, like many young people prefer to stay at their own home that is made up of treasured memories; they feel a sense of belonging at their own home than a senior home. In my culture caring for elderly people in their most difficult time of their lives is considered an honor and a blessing and an opportunity for great spiritual growth. In my culture it is not enough that we only check up on our elders like parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, but we act with limitless compassion, are kind, and are patient with them. We always try to remember that when we were helpless children, they were patient with us, gave us their love and preferred us to themselves. As a nurse, there are instances I forget the confines of the elderly and look at them with...
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...Communication is how care providers determine the quality of care that is given and needed for the patients. By being a nursing home administrator, it is my job to make sure that the HIPPA rules and regulations are being used by all employees. By making sure that HIPPA rules and regulations are being upheld, the nursing home is providing quality care to the patients. When a change happens at a nursing home there can be confusion and conflict with everyone involved. While following the chain of command can be long and even boring, it is needed to keep the communication process smooth and effective. The chain of command does help reduce the risk of a communication breakdown. If a communication breakdown is developed it can cause commotion in any health care facility which could jeopardize everyone involved. With being the nursing home administrator, the first job that I would need to do is have a full understanding of the new policies and procedures. I would need to know how the policies and procedures were put into place and how exactly this will affect the patient’s in the nursing home. In order to do this I would want to speak with the board members so my concerns could be addressed. In order to address these issues I could meet with the board members face to face, use social media, or by electronic communication. There are advantages to having traditional face to face meetings. The members are able to see my body language, facial expressions, and hear the tone of my voice while...
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...Interview-- The benefits of science and technology learning for the elderly Many old people think that computers are young and professional patents, their own and computer missed. In fact, a few years ago, my grandfather learned through the study of the family commonly used computer operation, at home can enjoy the use of computers, enjoy the computer, enrich the spiritual life of old age. Looking back three years of computer learning, his feeling got a lot of positive help and influence. In order to pay more attention to the Internet era, China 60 years old and above the elderly digital survival status, with social care to help the elderly to keep up with the times. My interview is from my grandfather. He is a 75-year-old man. At the time...
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...Literature Review: ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Elderly Care Introduction: Approximately 90% of people who take advantage of the elderly are their own family members. Elder abuse has a negative impact on the victimized elders worldwide. It is defined as intentional actions that cause harm or create a serious risk of harm (whether or not harm is intended) to a vulnerable elder by a caregiver or other person who stands in a trust relationship to the elder. This includes failure by a caregiver to satisfy the elder’s basic needs or to protect the elder from harm (Bonnie, R, & Wallace, R Eds., 2003). Although there is a lack of statistical information of elder abuse, there are sources that provide proof that elder abuse is a bigger issue than people perceive it to be. It can occur in many forms such as physical, emotional, financial and sexual abuse. In this paper, the question being investigated is “How knowledgeable are Barbadians on the effects of elder abuse?” The following literature reviews attempts to answer this question. Review of Findings: Each literature piece that has been reviewed pointed out that elder abuse is a major issue and is a topic that is given little recognition or response. According to Penny Bain and Charmaine Spencer, 2014, about 80% of abuse or neglect of older adults is hidden or goes undetected in Canada. Only about one in five cases of abuse come to the attention...
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...Caring for Elderly Parents How to care for elderly parents is a major concern of many Foreign Service families. Our concerns mirror those of other American families, but how to ensure good health care, find the right living situation, and handle legal questions is often complicated for Foreign Service families by being posted abroad. The distance involved makes it harder to get information and help so contingency planning is essential. Often Foreign Service families only have short visits during R & R or on home leave and hate to spend the precious time with their parents talking about serious business or unpleasant possibilities. Or we may be caught up in hectic preparations for an overseas assignment and not want to take the time to do contingency planning with parents. While it is difficult to discuss the issues of aging, the family who has discussed the options and agreed on plans will be better able to handle whatever happens. It will be worth the time taken, if there is an emergency. The ideal situation is when the parents take control of their own situations and make decisions in advance of an emergency. They should investigate the types of retirement options and decide which is most appropriate, make informed decisions about life-sustaining medical care, and make sure that documents, instructions, and powers of attorney are available to those who must take responsibility in an emergency. The American Association of Retired Persons recommends that elderly people use...
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...inside. Soon, we met a lady – care taker of the home, she led us to an office where we were made to sit. Next to our room, we saw some 15-16 people all old aged; all were engaged in their daily activity. This centre started its activities in Dhaka in 1987 with the initiatives of a rich industrialist of the country. Later the centre was shifted to the outskirts of Dhaka city in a large area at Gazipur District in 1994 and Nobel Laureate Mother Teresa laid the founder stone of its planned rehabilitation centre of 5000 elderly people. At present it has two branches in two districts and a total number of 1500 elderly have full board accommodation with socio-cultural and geriatric facilities. It has large agricultural activities where the elderly participate in gardening, farming, pisi-culture and other related agricultural activities. It has representatives in all 460 sub-districts of the country who disseminate the information and collect poor, helpless elderly people for this centre. It has a different abandoned child and older prostitute rehabilitation activity. The center has future plan to establish ten old home in the Dhaka City with legal aids, geriatric, recreational and...
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...Aging Report Mrs. R.B. is a mature adult at 74 years of age. Mrs. R.B. and her husband recently moved from a senior apartment community to a house with their daughter. Mrs. R.B. does not have any limits in her mobility or ability to carry out activities of daily living however she is the primary caregiver for her husband who suffered a stroke 12 years ago. Moving in with her daughter is providing her with some help as she is finding it more tiring to take care of herself and her husband alone. Mrs. R.B. starts each morning by getting herself up and dressed, including doing her hair and makeup before she gets her husband ready for the day. She says this is one of things she makes sure she does most days in order to feel like she has done something for herself. After getting herself ready for the day she assists her husband with getting dressed and ready for the day. Mrs. R.B appears to keep herself fairly well put together for a woman of her age with so much responsibility. Mrs. R.B. appeared to enjoy the time to talk about herself and her life as from time to time she rambled on about when she was young and how challenging it can be taking care of a disabled husband. She is happy when talking about the present and is looking forward to being in her new home with more space than her apartment and able to have her family over for holidays. When talking about the future; Mrs. R.B. tends to look away from me with some anxiety and fear about what the future holds, mainly...
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...The elderly population is a growing concern in the healthcare field. According to the US Census Bureau (2011), the elderly encompassed 13% of the population in the United States. The elderly population also grew at a faster rate than any other age group in the United States (US Census Bureau, 2011). The same can be said for Arizona, where are elderly make up 13% of the state population, matching the national average (R&R Partners, 2005). Of this number 39.7% have been classified with a disability. This number is expected to continue to grow as the older population continues choosing warmer climates for retirement. In Pima County our elderly population entails 14.2% of the population, which is greater than the national average. By 2015 Pima county’s elderly population is expected to reach a concerning 185,087 (R&R Partners, 2005). A vulnerable person is characterized by being open and potentially exposed to harm, and a person’s vulnerability status can change due to health, finances or social position Dyer, Franzini, Watson …Pickens, 2008). This is concerning to the health community because of the vulnerabilities the elderly face. A large number of this population will experience changes in hearing, sight speech and mobility which may lead to isolation from the community and depression. Many could experience memory loss or develop dementia causing difficulty in caring for themselves requiring them to seek assisted living facilities or in home care providers. They have a variety...
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...This Project can be based on dementia and discuss how these conditions can be addresses to ensure a quality if life for an older person so that they can participate and be considered ‘active living’ within their society. Contents. 1. Introduction 2. What is the condition? what are the physical and psychological changes that occur for the older person with this condition? 3. Exploring the persons needs in relation to the condition. 4. The Role of the carer and the multidisciplinary team in assisting the person with the condition, the practices implemented and the care settings that are available. 5. The Current approaches towards developing quality services for people with the condition. 6. Conclusion 7. Bibliography 8. Appendix Introduction This project is about dementia specifically in cases relating it to older people. It is the attention of the author to discuss the issues that a person with this condition from both a psychological and physical standpoint. The needs of this person will also be outlined in a physical, social, emotional, spiritual and intellectual, financial and environmental basis. The Role of the carer and the role of the multi-disciplinery team and their approach to meet a person’s needs. The author will be discussing the care settings available for people with the condition. The research conducted in this assignment will be form a range of sources such as the appropriate books, websites, leaflets and...
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...Later Adulthood Development Report Christina Burgess BSHS/325 August 30, 2015 Laura Cobb Later Adulthood Development Report “As of 2005, there were about 37 million Americans age 65 and over. By 2030, the number is projected to be 72 million- a 100 percent increase in 25 years, compared to a 30 percent growth in total population during the same period” (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010, pg. 643). During later adulthood, marks a new era in living life to its fullest. Many older adults tend be happier than ever during this phase in their life. Even though later adulthood have more health issues as they age, it is a time in a person’s life to reflect upon the life they have lived because of the use of retirement, transitioning from work to retirement, and the social policies to protect them. When an individual enters later adulthood, they then begin to go through different changes in their role and their social position in our society. In many other parts of the world, transitioning into later adulthood is a sign of wisdom and a mark of status. However, later adulthood is stereotyped into being "an awful life stage that is erroneous, and sadly is a factor in older adults' being treated as "second-class citizens" by some people who are younger" (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010, pg. 588). Moreover, many older adults are very healthy and remain to have an active lifestyle while many still think, feel and act as if they were still in their 50’s. Society tends to respect later...
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