BSN Program NUR 4636 – Community Health Nursing

Running Head: SENIOR HEALTH 1 Patricia Martin Florida National University Nursing Department BSN Program NUR 4636 – Community Health Nursing Prof. Eddie Cruz, RN MSN November 27, 2019. SENIOR HEALTH 2 Senior Health: Discussion 1. Mention and discuss the Healthy People 2020 wellness objectives and goals for older adults. Healthy People (HP) is a set of objectives and goals which are designed to guide disease prevention efforts, as well as national health promotion, to improve the health of all individuals in the U.S. (Hesse et al., 2010). Established under the governance of the FIW (Federal Interagency Workgroup), the basic structure underlying the Healthy People 2020 is the product of collaborative efforts among the advisory committee, public stakeholders, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Before Healthy People 2020, prior series were limited to certain population groups, but Healthy People 2020 features “older people” as a topic. The wellness objectives included in Healthy People include: • Increasing the number of older adults with chronic illnesses who can individually manage their conditions, • Reducing older adults’ visits to the ED (Emergency Department) due to falls, • Reducing the number of older adults with physical and mental disabilities who cannot access long-term care, • Reducing instances of preventable hospitalization among older adults with Alzheimer’s, SENIOR HEALTH • 3 Reducing the number of older individuals whose lives are unsatisfactory due to functional limitations, • Increasing the proportion of tribes and states that gather and openly declare information regarding the characters of perpetrators, victims, as well as cases of neglect, exploitation, and abuse among older adults, • Increasing the number of older individuals diagnosed with dementia, as well as their caregivers, who are unaware of the diagnosis. • Increasing the number of older individuals with a lower cognitive or physical function, who participate in vigorous, light, or moderate physical activity during leisure time. • Increasing the number of older individuals’ use of clinical preventive services and Welcome to Medicare benefit (Healthy People, 2019). The overarching goals of Healthy People for older adults include: • Creating environments (physical and social) that endorse good health for older adults, • Promoting healthy behaviors, healthy development, and improved life quality, • Achieving health equity, eliminating disparities, and improving health. • Achieving improved life quality, prolonged lives free of premature death, preventable disease, disease, and injury. • Increasing the number of health care providers with geriatric certification, SENIOR HEALTH • BSN Program NUR 4636 – Community Health Nursing

4 Increasing public knowledge among older adults of how the treatment of sleep disorders, as well as adequate sleep, improve wellness, health, quality of work, and safety on roads (Healthy People, 2019). 2. Identify and discuss nursing actions that address the needs of older adults. By 2030, a large proportion of America’s population will consist of older adults. This will have a profound impact on health care in general and on nursing education, research, and practice. Currently, 13% of the total population is at least sixty-five years old, and by 2030, the total of individuals aged sixty-five and above is expected to rise to 20%. As such, providing care to older adults is at the core of the nursing profession (Buerhaus et al., 2002). Nursing actions that address the needs of older adults include encouraging recommended health care examinations and screenings. Nurses can encourage older adults to adhere to recommended annual screenings and exams such as complete physical, blood glucose, blood pressure, and fecal occult blood tests. Nurses can also encourage older adults to take screenings and tests such as hearing tests, dental exams, glaucoma screening, visual acuity, and colonoscopy. For the older women, nurses can recommend clinical and self-breast exams, Pap smears, digital rectal exam, mammogram, and pelvic exam. For older men, nurses can recommend prostate exams, digital rectal exams, and prostate exams (Nies & McEwen, 2015). Nurses can also SENIOR HEALTH 5 encourage fitness and physical activity because fitness and physical activity benefit the older population in ways such as reducing falls, improving function status, strengthening bones, reducing cholesterol and blood pressure, and preventing obesity (Nies & McEwen, 2015). Nurses can also address the needs of older adults by assessing their nutritional status, monitoring chronic illnesses, and monitoring medication use to guarantee safety. Older adults need to be taught about possible undesirable reactions such as drug-food and drug-drug reactions. As part of holistic care, nurses should address spiritual concerns, as well as spiritual needs (Nies & McEwen, 2015). To address spiritual concerns, nurses can facilitate religious practices, listen actively, extend a caring touch, have a non-judgmental attitude, pray with and for the invalid, and refer to a spiritual care expert. Nurses must take their role in End-of-Life Issues seriously. On admission, nurses must ask patients if they have advance directives (Pho et al., 2012). After that, nurses must ensure that they talk to invalids about end-of-life issues, inform other nurses and clinicians about advance directives, and ensure that the file is in the invalid’s chart and that it is visible and accessible. Added to these, nurses need to encourage invalids to make their wishes known to their immediate family and clinician so that their wishes can be included in their medical record. SENIOR HEALTH 6 References Buerhaus, P. I., Needleman, J., Mattke, S., & Stewart, M. (2002). Strengthening hospital nursing. Health Affairs, 21(5), 123-132. Healthy People. (2019). Older Adults. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Retrieved 26 November from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/olderadults/objectives Hesse, B. W., Gaysynsky, A., Ottenbacher, A., Moser, R. P., Blake, K. D., Chou, W. Y. S., … & Beckjord, E. (2014). Meeting the healthy people 2020 goals: using the Health Information National Trends Survey to monitor progress on health communication objectives. Journal of health communication, 19(12), 1497-1509. Park & McEwen. (2015). Chapter 19: Senior Health [PowerPoint slides]. Pho, A. T., Tanner, E. K., Roth, J., Greeley, M. E., Dorsey, C. D., & Szanton, S. L. (2012). Nursing strategies for promoting and maintaining function among community-living older adults: the CAPABLE intervention. Geriatric Nursing, 33(6), 439-445. Running head: COMMUNITY NURSING 1 Yindra Burgos Farah Florida National University Nursing Department BSN Program NUR 4636 – Community Health Nursing Prof. Eddie Cruz, RN MSN November 27th, 2019 1- Mention and discuss the Healthy People 2020 wellness goals and objectives for older adults. COMMUNITY NURSING 2 Any aging individual will from time to time, desire to enjoy the health, wellness, and fitness that they so deserve. Nothing offers a person more comfort and peace of mind more than being in top shape. The essence of life is to live happily and without worrying about getting health complications at some point. We look at critical objectives for the seniors. Engaging in physical activity is one of the most vital goals any elderly should consider. Exercising plays a key role in making sure that someone is not only fit enough but also healthy. You will learn that an exercise that has been approved by a physician will often ensure that the senior remains strong for much longer. Physical activities will usually ensure that they stay in control of their health at all times. Evidently, exercising comes with a sense of satisfaction and happiness too. This way, you will enjoy great peace of mind in the long run. Coupling exercises with suitable nutrition is imperative. It will promote the health of body cells and even improve energy levels too. Getting enough sleep is beneficial to any senior (Van Dam & Helm, 2016). It is during sleep that the body rests, repairs, restores and even gets ready for a new day. Besides, enough sleep is essential in addressing anxiety and depressive concerns. This way, it will play a vital role in promoting mental health among seniors. Apart from that, it is valuable that the senior appreciates the essence of socializing. Given how likely they have lost friends over the years, making new friendships and relationships will be essential in improving their happiness in the long run. 2- Define and discuss the aging process and the demographic characteristics of the elderly population in your community. Understanding the dynamics of the aging process is imperative in making beneficial COMMUNITY NURSING 3 decisions down the road. Aging comes with emotional and physical changes. For instance, loss of vitality tends to be quite evident and prevalent. BSN Program NUR 4636 – Community Health Nursing

While some age-related changes could be quite benign, it is essential to indicate that we have various functionlimiting ones too (Lim & Yu, 2015). Aging people will often experience declines in the functioning of senses and even increased vulnerability to a couple of medical conditions. Over the years, various changes in aging demographics have come about. With technological advancement and adoption of evidence-based healthcare, there has been a decline in mortality rates among the aging. This way, there is a higher chance for people to live for over 80 years, and healthily so. (Lim & Yu, 2015) Studies have come in handy in helping to develop suitable interventions for the detection and prevention of various medical issues. For as long as some conditions are kept at bay, one could comfortably live a healthy life and for quite long too. 3- Identify and discuss nursing actions that address the needs of older adults. You can barely overlook the impactful role that nurses play in taking care of the needs of the aging. More than often, the burden of caregiving lies on their shoulders. For this reason, it will be prudent that they adopt various approaches in addressing the needs of these seniors. Here are some of the most reliable ways to realize better care for such persons. Interdisciplinary collaboration will time and again come in handy in ensuring that various issues are comprehensively addressed. With persons from multiple disciplines that touch on the health of the seniors working together, there is a high chance of getting COMMUNITY NURSING 4 personalized solutions to recurring age-related problems. Besides, this collaboration will make sure that there is no issue in implementing various findings. It is through this that credible solutions will realize their intentions (Kwan & Walsh, 2017). Further still, aiming at preventive measures will be critical in enhancing wellness. As nurses, it is clear that caregiving is their duty. They are also more conversant with the needs of each patient. For this reason, it is fair to say that they are the cornerstone of wellness, both now and in the future. They will not only provide the required leadership but also educate the elderly on what they need to do in this pursuit. 4- Mention and discuss health/illness concerns common to the elderly population. As earlier indicated, the body undergoes various changes as one ages. However, this is not indicative of a failing system. Most of the time, seniors face different problems that do include the following (Kwan & Walsh, 2017). It is common for one to end up with weaker bones and even osteoporosis. Often, it happens among women who are past menopause. This loss of density in the bones makes the elderly susceptible to injuries and frequent falling. Memory loss is not a new phenomenon among the elderly. After attaining the age of 30, various processes and functions within the body tend to slow down. For this reason, things like memory, hearing, and even sight issues will arise. Besides, some people experience a compromised sense of taste and smell. COMMUNITY NURSING 5 References COMMUNITY NURSING 6 Kwan, C., & Walsh, C. A. (2017). Seniors’ Disaster Resilience: A Scoping Review Of The Literature. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction , 259-273. Lim, K. T., & Yu, R. (2015). Aging And Wisdom: Age-Related Changes In Economic And Social Decision Making. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 97-120. Nies, M. A., & McEwen, M. (2015). Community/Public Health Nursing. Promoting the Health of the Populations (6th ed). Van Dam, N., & Helm, E. (2016). The Organizational Cost Of Insufficient Sleep. McKinsey Quarterly. …