Healthy Aging free essay sample

Healthy Aging: Helping Older Adults to Live Long Productive Lives The United States population is aging rapidly. Older adults today are living longer than anyone from previous generations. In the future decades, the numbers of adults 65 years or older will increase dramatically. This drastic shift in the population will have significant implications for our current public health system. Unprecedented demands on the provision of health care and age-related services will become strained. Public health efforts to promote health and functional independence are crucial to older adults. Studies have shown that a decline in health is not a consequence of growing old. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2011), â€Å"Older adults who practice healthy behaviors, take advantage of clinical preventive services, and continue to engage with family and friends are more likely to remain healthy, live independently, and incur fewer health-related costs†. The main component in keeping older adults healthy is prevention of chronic illnesses and related disabilities. These chronic illnesses account for more than 60% of all deaths among older adults. Efforts to prevent or reduce the risk of disease must be explored. Throughout this paper, opportunities to promote and preserve the health of older adults will be discussed in length. The five top priorities needed in order to improve older adults’ health and quality of life are: Promotion of healthy lifestyle, increase use of preventative services, addressing cognitive impairment, screening for mental health issues, and providing education on planning for future illness. Health promotion has positive effects on healthy lifestyle and health outcomes. Healthy behaviors play a major role in preventing unnecessary disease, postponing disability, and improving quality of life for older adults. Changes in certain behaviors can prolong health and the quality of life in older adults. The maintenance and promotion of health is achieved through a combination of physical, mental, and social well-being. Older adults can improve their health by keeping physically active, getting enough sleep, eating nutritiously, limiting alcohol use, and avoiding smoking. Older adults that maintain strong social relationships, volunteer, and are active in their community also may have an increase in their longevity of health. Achieving and maintaining health is an ongoing process that is created by both the knowledge and practices of health care, as well as personal strategies for staying healthy. One area that is especially important for older adults in improving and extending their quality of life is pedestrian safety. As people get older, they can develop age-related problems such as arthritis, poor vision, and poor balance that make it harder to get around. According to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (2011), â€Å"1 out of 3 adults aged 65 years or older falls each year. Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death for this age group†. To address this public health concern, community leaders in Henderson, NC, came together to implement a program called Walk Wise, Drive Smart. The goal of this program is to make neighborhoods and surrounding areas in Hendersonville more pedestrian-friendly for older adults. For older adults, being able to walk not only promotes physical and mental well-being, bit it also helps them to stay more connected to their communities. The Walk Wise, Drive Smart program demonstrates the power of city officials and citizens working together to make policy and environmental changes to make it easier for all residents to walk safely in their communities. Preventative health services are valuable for maintaining the quality of life and wellness for older adults. Increasing the use of these services depends on the health care system’s ability to deliver appropriate preventive services, as well as the older adults’ understanding of the benefits of preventive care. â€Å"Evidence-based preventative services are effective in reducing death and disability, and are cost-effective or even cost-saving† (Greathouse, 2011). These services consist of screening tests, counseling, immunizations, medications used to prevent disease, detection of health problems early, and providing people with the information they need in order to make good decisions about their health. Preventive services are traditionally delivered in clinical settings. However, to combat the existing health gap, many of these preventive services are now being delivered within communities, work sites, schools, residential treatment centers, and homes in order to increase the use of these potentially lifesaving measures. These preventive health services are important in helping the older adults gain self confidence in their ability to control symptoms and manage the progression of several long-term and chronic illnesses. Although cognitive impairment is not an inevitable sign of aging, age is the greatest risk factor. With the rapidly increasing number of older Americans, cognitive impairment is a growing public health concern. â€Å"Recognizing signs of cognitive impairment is critical to initiating effective treatment and care as well as to distinguish dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, from other temporary and reversible conditions that may cause loss of cognitive functioning† (Anderson, 2011). Cognitive impairment will place unprecedented demands on our existing health care system. If we are not prepared, cognitive impairment has the potential to present a tremendous economic burden. Identifying the extent and severity of functional deficits that typically occur with cognitive impairment can aid in early diagnosis, help in estimating prognosis, and improve treatment strategies† (Brown Devanand, 2011). The same practices that contribute to healthy aging and physical vitality also contribute to healthy memory. Public health efforts are critical to promote healthy behavior and extend independent life in the community. By preserving function, we can help older adults remain independent for as long as possible. This can improve their quality of life and delay the need for costly long-term care, such as community-based services or nursing home placement. With the growing number of older adults affected by cognitive impairment, it is more important than ever to implement an effective public health solution to prevent a potential crisis. Mental health is essential to overall health and well-being. As people age, a number of serious issues can have a major impact on their lives. Good health includes both physical and mental well-being. A healthy mind contributes to a healthy body. In addition to chronic disease, mental health and substance abuse problems can have a devastating impact on the lives of older adults. Physical disability, physical illness, loss or illness of a loved one, and alcohol or drug abuse may contribute to the onset of mental illness in older adults. How we  handle these changes, as well as regular day-to-day stresses, is the key to aging well. Untreated substance abuse and mental health problems among older adults are associated with poor health outcomes, higher health care utilization, increased complexity of the course and prognosis of many illnesses, increased disability and impairment, compromised quality of life, increased caregiver stress, increased mortality, and higher risk of suicide† (Whitelaw, 2011). Educating older adults on how to plan for serious illnesses and care options is the key to having peace of mind about th e future of their health. According to the AGS Foundation for Health in Aging (2009), â€Å"public health services are being developed to enhance health promotion and disease prevention throughout the life cycle that contribute to wellness, activity, and independence later in life†. These programs are important in order to improve the quality of life for older adults and their significant others by partnering with them in managing care, planning for the future, and advocating on their behalf. â€Å"Decision making regarding life-prolonging procedures when death is inevitable have become legal, ethical, medical, and professional issues today† (Touhy Jett, 2010, p. 43). Legal documents such as advanced directives, living wills, and the durable power of attorney for health care have been put in place to allow older adults to convey their decisions about end-of-life care ahead of time. These provisions provide a way for older adults to communicate their wishes to family, friends and health care pro fessionals in order to avoid confusion later on. End of life is managed much more in accordance with patients’ wishes through this system of planning the health care the older adult desires. The result is far less hospitalization, fewer ineffective treatments, and a reduction in health care costs. These areas can serve as a model for how to reform our health care system in a way that protects patients and significantly drive down costs for Medicare and the rest of healthcare. Helping older adults to live long and productive lives starts with heath prevention to improve general health, delay the onset of disability, and increase well-being. Strategies to improve the collaboration between hospitals and community based initiatives have the potential to improve quality of life and care for older adults, and to optimize health service utilization. Health promotion is needed in order to optimize outcomes, delay the onset of diseases, manage chronic illnesses, maximize function, and alleviate symptoms. Challenges involved in the growing elderly population, increasing access to care, and reducing medical costs are huge problems for the future of healthcare. The President’s healthcare reform agenda calls on all of us to be more actively engaged in maintaining and improving our own health. We all have to work together and take responsibility in educating our families, our friends, and ourselves about healthy living since the process of aging begins at birth.