The mental and emotional condition of old people with Alzheuimer’s disease can become a major issue in designing programs for their welfare.. They may feel depressed most of the time or have low self-esteem and worst, forget who they are.
It becomes apparent that the program for their welfare be designed so that they can always recount their past.
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A program could be done on a daily basis, to make these people have fun while they are trying to recall memories of their past. The staff can help them as they try to remember and list down the names of their loved ones. This will make their minds active even up to their later years.
The intervention plan shall incorporate cognitive, mental activities such as memory work, with pictures to enhance and make the activity fun for the elderly. There would be a program designed with the elder person and his/her family to be with her on a regular basis.
To address the health needs of the aging population, the American Dietetic Association (ADA 2000) promoted the provision of “a broad array of culturally appropriate food and nutrition services, physical activities, and health and supportive care customized to accommodate the variations within this expanding population of older adults”.
The association also asserted that “medical and supportive services, including culturally sensitive food and nutrition services that are appropriate to levels of independence, diseases, conditions, and functional ability, are key components of the continuum of care.
Families of these elderly people must be mobilized so that even if there are hired caregivers for the senior, they are still there as a familiar face. Family caregivers need all the help they can get to provide care, including purchasing modifications to the home, purchasing labor-enhancing and labor-saving technologies, and figuring out how best to integrate caregivers in the atmosphere where she stays. (Number of Elder-Physicians Declines as Elderly Population Explodes).
The mental and emotional condition of old people is also a major issue in designing for the welfare of the elderly. Often, aging is associated with increased depression, loneliness and lower self-esteem as old people begin to be unable to do the usual activities they do while they were still young and strong.
The need to move out of one’s home also adds to the emotional issues that the senior may be facing. It becomes apparent that facilities and environments created specifically for the elderly should promote mental and emotional well-being, aside from addressing the general health and medical needs of these people.
For neglected elders, there are policies in place to strengthen legitimate place for elders to stay out of the depressive mood. Games can be played with the person being prodded to start the game and give the instructions to the group.
It is the responsibility of this family care center to ensure that they support the interests of the elderly under their care by providing them the kind of care and protection against all kinds of abuse or exploitation, thereby ensuring them of having quality of life even at an advance age.
Institutions, whether government owned or privately owned, must be available and made known to elders so they have options available to stay in such institutions. Social Security and Medical Care must be operational to assume their purposes for that the older population can avail of such benefits without need to depend upon their families for support.
PROGRAM FOR NURSING HOME FACILITIES
The Nursing Home Facility that I envision will have a program for those who are battling with loneliness and depression. The staff will be alerted to individual eccentricities and these will be properly logged. If the staff notices changes or a person going into his/her depression, the staff will alert the management and that particular person will be made to do a task which she/he likes the most.
This can run the gamut of leading the group in prayer or doing something like setting the table. An increased health care utilization must be done to address the recurring illnesses. Treatment of geriatric depression must be by medication combined with lots of psychotherapy “to cause not only transient symptom remission but also to maintain continuous wellness” (Sousa, 2005).
The geriatric depression can be treated in 3 phases: (a) Acute, (b) continuation, and (c) maintenance phases. “Acute phase is to achieve symptom remission; the continuation phase is to prevent relapse into the same episode with the same symptoms; (c) and the aim of maintenance treatment is sustaining the recovery and preventing recurrences” (De Sousa, 2005)
There wil be regular morning exerices that shall be part of the daily routine of the elderly in this facility. There will be assigned leaders who will think of the specific exercise that will be done.
The facility is responsible to the Department of Health and Human Services and to the federal state government which have set abuse and neglect provisions in medical and health services to the aging community.
There are several alerts issued to facilities of this kind such as potential violations and the highlighting of illegal practices that it may uncover during the investigation of the incident. Other larger health organizations must again increase its scrutiny of home health expenditures to assure the public that the funds are properly administered.
There are already provisions about Medicare to hold health agencies more accountable for inappropriate bills.
There are available Senior Services Network Government Agencies that will hold this facility accountable for this misdeed. In order to alleviate obstacles to a just resolution of patient suits, government agencies have also developed links to pertinent sections of the federal codes, relevant cases and helpful sites and musings on theories of liability.
Most oversight functions rest with the states so that for example, this facility would be responsible to the Social Security Administration which have sections on enforcing standards for any category of group living arrangement. “In general, states' regulations tend to focus on three main areas: requirements for the living unit; admission and retention criteria; and the types and levels of services that may be provided.
However, states vary widely on what they require. For example, state regulations differ in their (1) licensing standards concerning admission and discharge criteria, staffing ratios, and training requirements; (2) inspection procedures that specify frequency, notification requirements, and inspector training; and (3) the range of enforcement mechanisms that are available and used.” (Long-Term Care and Consumer Protection).
MEMORY INTERVENTION FOR OLDER ADULTS
Family is said to be the primary caregiver of the elderly population and an elder’s tendency to depend upon their family for support, help and care are likely recognized, practiced and observed. Inadequate resources may cause problems in the way elders are treated hence they need to have support groups to address the inadequacies.
The ongoing problems and concerns raised by the elderly population is a legitimate and eye opening, worldwide issue that needs immediate solutions before they get into deeper and serious problems. If one cares for the young children who are the hope of the future, one must also give serious regard for the elders who once have contributed to what we have become today.
By following the natural law, man is created by God to care for mankind and for all the natural creations in store in this world. Let the caring for the elders be a serious commitment by both individuals and society. Let love for each other, no matter what age, race, ethnicity, status or gender we may belong, be our guiding principle to care for each other, so that love and justice will truly reign in our hearts.
Administrators of this facility center must have appropriate Administrative and technical staff which will monitor the progress of the disease. Alzheimer’s disease patients definitely needed a more personal care by a private nurse inside that facility even if social workers are around. A
personal private nurse will be assigned to the elderly and which is needed including the scheduling of the appointment to the doctor. However, leaving it to the social workers in the facility is not advisable at all because they are not accountable to the Administrator all the time. The shifting of social workers and staff would make no one person accountable to what was happening to the people there with Alzheimer’s disease.
To illustrate, let us take one person in this. Talking with her involves an interactive process based on certain fundamental principles in counseling and communication. The interactive process with this elderly with a slowly creeping Alzheimer’s disease can be very helpful in making her not lose grip of her memory.
During the Stage 1 of a session with her, I can encourage self-exploration by offering a helping relationship characterized by emphatic understanding, genuineness and respect (Rogers, 1965). These are “receiving skills” and they are undergirded by concreteness—a focus on real happenings and their consequences.
While offering these conditions, I begin to look diagnostically for the salient issues of elderly condition that relate to the patient’s concerns.
While engaging her in an active verbal conversation, she describes her past life. I help her differentiate conditions of the past from conditions of the present so that a clearer understanding of attitudes and behaviors emerge. In the case of Grandma, as I may fondly call her in this papers, try to manipulate me into parental kinds of behavior.
Displaying either hostility or dependency (seeking solutions from me). During the first stage of counseling, I was able to build the trust needed in this kind of session, and at the same time help the client focus on concrete concerns about which she personally must make decisions.
Then, I use that trust that has been built to get involved more potently in helping her understand herself. I now respond not just to what she says but also to what she implies. I help her “reclaim” a part of herself that had been left behind at an earlier period in life. Such reclaimed qualities can lead to additions of fulfilling activities.
REFERENCES
De Sousa, Avinash. (2005) Geriatic Depression: A Clinical Update. Indian Journal of
Gerontology, Volume 19, No. 1 pp. 23-36
How Soon is too soon to screen people for Alzheimer's Disease
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119794558308135759.html
Memory Improvement: Exercise keeps your mind sharp
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/memory-improvement/HA00085
Nursing Homes Struggle to Kick Drug Habits
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119811286789841083.html
Nursing Homes Struggle to Kick Drug Habits
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119811286789841083.html
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