Attributes and Characteristics of Aged Care Services
The aging population of the society experience a number of restrictions and complexities that complicate the course of living. It has to be mentioned that each and every individual of the society has an equal right to live a long and healthy life (Wakerman et al., 2017). However, the aging is a biological process which inevitably deteriorates the ability of the individuals to combat the deleterious impact of their physical or psycho-social environment. As discussed by the WHO document, the environment plays a fundamental part in the living status and outcome (Who.int, 2018). The healthy aging had been introduced as a project program that aims at addressing the challenges faced by the aging populations across the world along with modifying and improving the environment of the aging populations to help them lead a healthy, fulfilling and content living.
The primary argument proposed by the essay will focus on the about the attributes and characteristics of the aged care services all over the nations to ensure quality living of aged members of the society along with longer life expectancy. The healthy aging initiative introduced by the World Health Organization has focussed on developing the functional ability of the elderly. Functional ability can be defined as the intrinsic capacity of the individuals to accustom themselves with the environmental characteristics (Jackson et al., 2015). The essay will attempt to explore these two elements and how they help in understanding of the individualized needs of the elderly populations and help them avail the means to go through the process of healthy aging sustainably. In order to understand the aspects of the above mentioned argument, the essay will take the assistance of person centred approach, health promotion programs, holistic care, and bio-psycho-social model of care.
There are a number of different models and frameworks available to guide the health professionals through the needs and requirements of the elderly individuals. The primary aim and objectives of the model frameworks is to help the older cohorts of all around the glove to live a healthy life and not just a longer life in general. However, among the other models, the healthy aging model proposed by the world health organization is the most inclusive and diverse with respect to the differential health and wellbeing need of the elderly (World Health Organization, 2015). On a more elaborative note, the healthy aging model by WHO, takes a more holistic take to care planning and delivery. As discussed by the Beard et al. (2016), mental, social, physical and emotional wellbeing is integral for the elderly to be living a healthy and happy life ahead. The healthy aging model attempts at the developing as well as maintaining the optimal social, emotional, physical, and psychological aspects of the living of the elderly populations of the world. In order to achieve this holistic outcome, it is crucial for the authorities to explore the safety of the communities and promoting the exact health needs of the elderly populations of the society. elaborating further, as discussed by Gwyther et al. (2018), optimal usage of healthcare services by the elderly, respectful care, enhanced accessibility to the services, engaging the older adults in different community programs, and designing specific health promotion programs for the elderly helps in minimizing the prevalence of complex disorders and eliminates the chance of the elders having to lead a poor quality of life. The healthy aging model proposed by the World health organization helps the health care professionals be able to attain these goals successfully and sustainably.
Different Models and Frameworks for Guiding Health Professionals
One of the most important challenge for the aged care sectors all across the world is the understanding and recognizing of the need for individualized health care needs of the elder population of the world. As discussed by the authors, the life expectancy of the elder population has enhanced considerably in the past few decades, however unfortunately the quality of living of the elderly has not enhanced or improved. The enhanced preventative health care approach to different communicable and non- communicable diseases has contributed to the higher life expectancy for the elders, however as declared by the statistical reports by the WHO has commented on the fact that the even though the elders are living longer all across the world they are not living a fulfilling or content life (Hughes, Bigby & Tilbury 2018).
One of the most important contributing factor that has been identified behind the lesser quality of living is the poor accessibility of the elders top the different services, which not only affects the functional ability of the elders, it also negatively affects the mental health of the elders. Along with that many authors have described the lack of financial stability after the older adults retire has a strong impact on their lives which deteriorates their chances of having quality health care services. The inequities among the pension schemes is another challenge further complicating the condition. The stereotypes and prejudices experienced by the older adults in the society has a strong impact on the policy making for the older adults and in turn their safety and wellbeing in the society. The development of the aged care programs and planning to address the ageist stereotypes can help the aged members of the society live while harmoniously exerting their functionality completely (Howdon & Rice, 2018).
The model has recognized and attempts to address the root causes of the challenges or issues faced by the older cohort of the nation. First and foremost key area that they have identified and has focussed on the need for sustainable development for addressing the poverty and lack of adequate income security for the elders. The strategies also focus on the safety issues faced by certain groups of older adults in the society with the possibility of abuse and neglect. In case this model is integrated into the aged care sector it will help address the limited accessibility of the elders to different services and address the personal safety and unmet care needs that the aged members of the world have (Broad et al., 2015).
While discussing the key areas that that Model must take into consideration is the disparities in the health care services due to the differential socio-economic background of aged members of the world. One very important factor in this context is the need for enhancing the equal accessibility in accordance with the cultural appropriateness. As mentioned by Prince et al. (2015), the lack of cultural safety and appropriateness is a strong reason behind the lack of help seeking behaviour among the older adults, which in turn reduces their quality of living. Furthermore, it is very important for the older adults to have the opportunity of lifelong learning regarding their own health and wellbeing so that they have the opportunity to contribute to their community as well.
Importance of Individualized Health Care for the Elderly
The aged care services in accordance with the healthy aging model of care is a very takes into consideration all of the different principles of aged care practice. However, all the foundations of aged care services are not followed successfully in all the countries in the aged care services. Firstly, it is very important for the aged care services to consider the heterogeneity of the care needs of the aged people, irrespective of their cultural identity or the status. Secondly, it is crucial for such services to be able to address the disparities and inequalities of the health services that they are accessing from the different settings. The third important aspect of care delivery that the care sector will have to address is eliminating the ageist stereotypes and prejudices affecting the elderly psychologically. The fourth aspect in this case is the need for thee services to be aligned with the social changes that the elderly experience in the health care sector. The fifth elemental need for the aged care sector is to integrate evidence based practice and patient education while planning and implementing care services. Lastly, the care services will have to take into consideration the need for assimilating the traditional and cultural health perspectives of the older adults and their trajectory of functional abilities (Wakerman et al., 2017).
Along with these core competencies that have been illustrated above there are three additional arenas of care program development that is needed to be highlighted here. First and foremost, the global recognition of nurturing and developing the functional ability of the older adults while planning for services for the older adults is needed to be taken into consideration. This goal can be achieved by integrating empowerment based strategies to improve the intrinsic capacities of the older adults, maintaining the environmental characteristics relevant for the older adults and facilitating successful engagement of the older adults with their communities (Jackson et al., 2015).
Elaborating more on the second element, intrinsic capacities of the older adults and how it can be nurtured further by planning and implementing aged care services, it has to be mentioned that the level of awareness regarding the need of intrinsic capacities is not sufficient for the developing countries as compared to the developed ones. Exploring further, the developing countries are still focussed on providing curative services rather than taking a holistic approach to care for the older adults. Hence the care services that are designed for the aged members of the society are only focussed on the complex disorders that the older adults are facing, no efforts are being taken to address the need for environmental modification. As discussed by the Buckinx et al. (2015), intrinsic capacity refers to the amalgamation of both mental and physical capabilities of the individual, the care actions of initiatives taken by the developing countries are focussing entirely on the physical healing, emotional or mental healing is not being addressed at all.
The third and final element is the environmental characteristics, the extrinsic factors such as home, built up environment, the inhabitants, relationships between the individuals, values and principles, different policies, supporting systems, and services, all have an intricate association with the quality of life of the individuals. Hence, the development of the aged care services for the older adults must emphasize on the impact of all these factors and how to address them accordingly to encourage and facilitate content and fulfilling living experience for the older adults, along with healthy (Romero-Ortuno & Soraghan, 2014).
Root Causes of Challenges Faced by the Elderly and Possible Solutions
The care provided by the aged services in the developing countries are different from the services provided by similar services in the develop countries. The services in the developing countries are seen to focus mainly on the curative forms of care to the different types of complex disorders that older cohorts face (Oliver et al., 2014). The long-term facilities and services in the developing countries are not well developed. This is mainly because they are poorly funded and the allocation of the resources is not done in a balanced manner. As not enough funds are allocated, training sessions for the nursing professionals in the geriatric departments are not achieved in adequate manner (Jagger et al., 2016). Therefore, the care is also not evidence based and hence the quality of the care provided is also compromised. Understaffing and nursing shortage in the aged care facilities are also quite high and this adds to the poor quality care to the older patients in the low and middle-income countries.
Another important aspect also observed in the developing countries is the widespread stereotyping of ageism. People from older cohorts are often considered to be burdensome on the resources of the society (Fairhall et al., 2015). Therefore, funding for this cohort is often debatable among the different political parties as well as the healthcare departments of the governments. Proper skills and knowledge are also found to be absent among the professionals who care for them and therefore complete absence of person centered care is observed. Again, since the aging population is quite high in comparison to the nurses providing care, the quality of the care is highly compromised which results in patient’s dissatisfaction (Baldwin et al., 2015).
However, the conditions of the healthcare services in the developed countries are not as poor as in the developing countries. With the advancement of the medical research, life expectancy of people had increased. Therefore, more number of older people is living but are suffering from various chronic ailments. This had created huge pressure on the healthcare services as well as resulted in huge work burden on the healthcare professionals (Broad et al., 2015). However, the developed countries have identified that only providing curative services would not help in ensuring quality life of the older population. They have realized the importance of providing holistic and comprehensive care to the patients that would cover four important arenas in the lives of the older people – spiritual, social, psychological as well as the biological determinants of health. Therefore, the interventions that are provided not only covers the treatments of symptoms of the disorders but also covers the other important determinants like poor access to healthcare, societal inclusion, low financial security, low socioeconomic status, depression and loneliness and many others (Cesari et al., 2016). Although the developed countries have successfully identified the importance of person-centered care to the older cohorts for respecting the dignity and autonomy of the patients, still certain important aspects are lacking in the aged care services in the nation. Studies have shown that effective funding for training sessions of the nursing students in the geriatric department are quite low. Increase in funding should be also ensured so that the care becomes more evidence based (Oliver et al., 2014). However, one positive impact is that the policy makers from the governmental departments have published different types of policies and strategy frameworks. This had helped in developing aged care services largely.
The professionals working in the aged care services in the developed countries have identified the significance of person-centered care. They have understood that this approach helps in empowering the older cohorts of the patients that has great contribution in developing quality of the lives of the individuals. However, the developing countries have yet not understood the importance of this approach or might have not been able to introduce such approaches in healthcare successfully (Brinda et al., 2015). The developed countries have also put much significance to importance of evidence-based practices. They put more focus on ensuring that the older people develop mental and emotional stability along with the interventions for their physical ailments and to achieve this evidence based care would be highly significant. The aged care services are currently focusing on strategies by which older people can enjoy distinct positions in the society and identify their roles within the communities. They need to develop meaningful relationships with others in the families and the societies and reside in environments that respond to their needs and requirements of leading happy lives. The care services are trying to make the older people feel independent enabling them to make their own decisions (Jeon et al., 2017). They should feel secure within the environment and should enjoy their potential for personal growth.
The aged care services have changed a lot over the decades, as they no longer follow the traditional mode of care that insisted on curative services. The present day aged care services are putting more focus on the person-centered care that believes on empowering older people rather than caring for their already present complex disorders (Jagger et al., 2016). This approach has ensured active participation from the older patients that make them believe that the aged care-nursing professionals care about their feelings and suggestions in their care. This makes the old people feel respected and therefore, their compliance with the healthcare professionals are also seen to increase. Empathy and compassion are two important foundations on which the healthcare professionals have based their communication procedures. They ensure these two aspects of non-verbal communication when interacting with the patients are followed so that therapeutic relationships are developed with the older people. These have positive outcomes on their mental and physical health outcomes of the older people.
Caring for the clinical need and requirements of the older people do not ensure quality life of the patients. Therefore, the present day aged care services are also putting much significant on the development of communities that align with the expectations of the older people in the nations. Effective modification of the environment is put much more focus by the healthcare departments of the nation. Strategies for helping older people to develop effective relationships and ensuring enough space allocation for the older people to move around effectively are two important arenas that the community based aged care services are focusing on (Brinda et al., 2015). Proper interventions in helping the patients to fulfill their needs, allowing them freedom and scope and support to develop their knowledge, helping them to flourish and take their own decisions and contributing to the societies – are some of the arenas the aged care services are working on to help them achieve full potential.
Other important areas where the aged care services in the nations are trying to focus on developing important policies and strategy framework. These would help the healthcare professionals to provide care that are evidence based. These can be also followed by family members, caregivers and even the older people and can develop knowledge and skills by which care for the older people can be taken in effective ways. The nursing professionals have been assigned with one important responsibility (Jeon et al., 2017). They need to identify the needs and requirements of the older people that cannot be met by present day healthcare systems and governmental contributions. They need to advocate for such areas to the concerned authorities so that the latter can take necessary initiatives and accordingly provide comprehensive care that meets all needs of older people.
Present day aged care services also have put more focus on the development of health promotion programs that help individuals in gaining more control over the activates that affect their health and focus on development of habits that improve the health conditions. The health promotion programs are developed in order to address the different social determinants of health that are affecting their lives and are focused on developing the conditions to ensure good living conditions of older people. Moreover, such health promotion programs also conduct health education sessions for the older people. These help in educating the older people about the importance of proper diets and nutrition along with leading active lives. They are also encouraged to undertake regular screening sessions for different disorders, lead active lives, maintain compliance with medication regimes and undertake healthy living activities like early sleeping, morning walks, light diets, low smoking and low alcohol consumptions and many others (Jeon et al., 2017). The professionals in the aged care services also put much significance on developing health literacy of the older people. This had helped them to feel embowered and independent in their personal lives helping them to enjoy high self-esteem and self-respect (Brinda et al., 2015).
Conclusion:
On a concluding note, the essay summarized the need for a change in the vision and approach of the aged care service planning from a curative approach to a holistic approach. Healthy aging is not limited to just being physically healthy, the concepts of healthy aging diversify and encompass optimal functional ability, in accordance with optimal intrinsic capacities and content association with the environmental characteristics. It can be easily stated that the developing countries are following a curative care approach for the older adults, which is only helping in enhancing the life expectancy of the older adults, but not improving the quality of life for the older adults. There is need for integrating empowering the older adults and helping them take active participation in their own care so that they take responsibility of their health is crucial. Another challenge is the lack of funding, resources, infrastructure and training in the aged care staff. Hence, there is need for reorientation of the services to acknowledge the need for empowerment and active participation based care approach devoid of any stereotype of ageism to help the elders across the globe live a content and fulfilling life.
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