Recent orders
Population Based Health Policy Elderly
Population Based Health Policy: Elderly
Table of Contents
TOC o “1-3” h z u HYPERLINK l “_Toc326073182” Introduction PAGEREF _Toc326073182 h 3
HYPERLINK l “_Toc326073183” Discussion PAGEREF _Toc326073183 h 3
HYPERLINK l “_Toc326073184” End of life care PAGEREF _Toc326073184 h 3
HYPERLINK l “_Toc326073185” Long term care PAGEREF _Toc326073185 h 4
HYPERLINK l “_Toc326073186” Costs of health care insurance PAGEREF _Toc326073186 h 5
HYPERLINK l “_Toc326073187” Access to quality health care PAGEREF _Toc326073187 h 6
HYPERLINK l “_Toc326073188” Summary PAGEREF _Toc326073188 h 7
HYPERLINK l “_Toc326073189” References PAGEREF _Toc326073189 h 8
IntroductionThe present state that health care reform is in has raised a number of ethical concerns regarding the availability of health care to the general public. The United States government, health care professionals, and professional associations have realized the need to address the issue regarding adequate access to health care. Due to the declining reimbursements rates of Medicare as well as the presently low Medicaid’s reimbursements, it is expected that the elderly in the country may experience additional hardships regarding lack of access to health care. There are several factors that strongly influence the ability of the elderly population to access health care such as insurance coverage and socioeconomic status. This paper will look at the health policy issues related to the elderly including end of life care, long term care and other such aspects.
DiscussionEnd of life care
Due to the existing taboo regarding talk about death, elders find it hard to discuss their thoughts as they live their last stages before they die. As a result, the elders may feel isolated and hold back things that they would like to share with their friends and family as they go through their last stages of life. Individuals aged 65 and over have the highest suicide rates and especially when they are not getting the right care (Bodenheimer and Grumbach, 2009). The development of advance care planning gives hope to the elderly regarding their end of life care. Advance care planning is the process undertaken by an elderly individual where he or she consults with health care providers, family members, friends, and other people that they consider important in their lives (Barbara and Hughes, 2011). The consultation is aimed at helping them make decisions that relate to their future health care if they become incapable of taking part in decisions regarding their medical treatment in the future. The American medical association is one among many professional associations that support legislation on advance care planning and improved end of life care.
There are some potential barriers and challenges to advance care planning for instance the availability of trained staff that has the time as well as competence and confidence to discuss this matter with patients (Barbara and Hughes, 2011). Effective advance planning is very challenging especially when the elderly patient is acutely unwell and he or she has a short length of stay in the hospital before being discharged. End of life care is important to the elderly especially in management of symptoms, avoidance of prolongation of death, achievement of a sense of control and also lessening the burden carried by the family. All involved get to be better prepared for future treatment in case the elderly patient becomes incapacitated to have a say in their medical treatment in the future.
Long term care
When preparing to care for ill members, families have to address numerous confusing information, emotional issues, and complex decisions that range from nursing home care to the protection of one’s life assets. In order to avoid all these complexities, it is better for the families to have documents in place that allow for the intervention of the members in case an illness sets in (World Health Organization, 2012). In many cases, when people are on the subject of long-term care they almost always think of nursing homes. This is a wrong assumption and understanding the basic idea of long-term care can help one to protect their family and also their finances (Health Reform Source, 2012). Long-term care is a continuum of services in care as well as housing that one will need when they live a long life. In the past, a stroke, heart attack, cancer and such critical illnesses would lead to death. Today many people with such illnesses continue to live although they get to receive additional care for instance patients of Alzheimer’s. The longer an individual lives the more likely they are to require care. The patient in long-term care will be assisted with their activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and locomotion and in case of cognitive impairment that is extremely severe; the person will be supervised constantly. An individual needing custodial care will more likely receive it from the community and not necessarily from a nursing home. A recent report by the New England Journal of Medicine found an estimated 43% of elderly people over 65 to require nursing home care (Health Reform Source, 2012). However, although this number spends their time in a facility, very few will spend an entire day in one.
Medicare covers the cost of only skilled or rehabilitative care and not custodial care in any circumstance. Custodial care costs get to be covered by Medicaid although primarily in nursing homes. The present legislation does not address home care and assisted living much hence funding them is very limited. There is the idea that VA will cover home care costs and also adult care and assisted living but funding is still limited (Elias, 2006). The constant statements by the federal government encouraging veterans to purchase personal long-term care insurance plans is proof that VA cannot be looked up to cover home care and assisted living costs entirely.
Costs of health care insurance
The senior population is the demographic with the fastest growth rate in America with presently more than 40 million Americans above 65 years of age (Elias, 2006b). As a result, for-profits and non-profit organizations find the senior population to be a huge target market that they can provide numerous varieties of care services to. The services, though, do not come cheaply and the senior population gets to carry the immense burden of paying for these costs. Older adults as well as seniors many times worry about the cost of paying for care services in the future for example in-home services and assisted living. Long-term care is the insurance product utilized in helping the elderly to cover costs of long-term care past a particular period. This insurance generally covers care that is not covered by Medicaid, Medicare and also health insurance. Although this insurance helps the elderly a lot, it is sometimes very costly and the premiums paid are determined by how early the patient individual bought the insurance. An individual in their mid-40s, for instance may have to pay between 50$ and 100$ every month for this insurance whereas one in their 70s would pay 500$ and above every month (Wise, 2007).
This insurance does not replace the need for the involvement of the family in providence of care but rather builds on this element. The insurance makes it possible to pay professionals to help the individual with the toughest tasks like feeding and bathing. In turn, the family is able to give home care well enough and longer. On a financial perspective long-term care insurance allows the retirement plan of the individual to remain intact. It also protects income including pension, IRA, and social security.
Access to quality health care
Disparity in access to health care in the non-elderly is an issue that has been researched and debate over time. The disparity exists primarily because of lack of health care insurance be it public insurance or employer-sponsored. In 2006, the number of Americans less than 65 years of age that were uninsured was approximately 16% (Wise, 2007). Many elderly individuals seek medical care at a clinic or physician’s office but there is a small number that often seek care from government-sponsored clinics and the emergency room. Not all patients requiring medical care can make an appointment to see a doctor or even have one that they can reach by telephone for consultation regarding various medical conditions. Although physical barriers like high costs and lack of transportation have a part to play in the inaccessibility of health care for the elderly, lack of responsiveness regarding concerns of the elderly is also a major barrier. Policies in place to avoid discrimination based on race and ethnic origins have greatly reduced it as a barrier to access to medical care. The other elements that are yet to be addressed include gender, age insurance coverage, and income. There is also the issue of poverty as a barrier to quality health care access for the elderly.
SummaryThe issue of health care for the elderly has received considerable attention in recent times and factors such as end of life care and insurance coverage have become major concerns. The society that seniors live in is one that considers talk regarding death to be a negative element and therefore the freedom of the elderly to plan for and address their last day stages is limited. However, programs and practices such as advance care planning have been put in place to avoid the challenges that arise when an individual becomes incapacitated in participating in their medical care. The elderly can hence consult with the health care providers, their families, and friends and express their take on the manner and extent of medical care in the future in case they get too ill to participate. There are also issues of health care insurance costs which mostly burden the elderly and their families. In a nutshell, access to health care for the elderly is limited by many barriers including costs, transportation, insurance, responsiveness, and government support. However, health reform continues to improve on these issues so that the elderly can access quality health care more easily.
ReferencesWorld Health Organization (2012). Aging and life course. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from http://www.who.int/ageing/en/
Barbara I. and Hughes R. (2011). Advance Care Planning. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from http://www.ahrq.gov/research/endliferia/endria.htm
Bodenheimer, T. S., & Grumbach, K. (2009). Understanding health policy: A clinical approach, 5th Ed. New York: McGraw Hill.
Elias, R. (2006). Financing Long Term Care. Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from http://www.kaiseredu.org/tutorials/longtermcare/longtermcare.html
Health Reform Source (2012). Long Term Care. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from http://healthreform.kff.org/Tags/Long-Term-Care.aspx
Wise, D. A. (2007). Economics of Aging Program. The National Bureau of Economic research. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from http://www.nber.org/aging.html
Population and Organizational Assessment
Population and Organizational Assessment
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
The report is also addressing the writer
Population and Organizational Assessment
Introduction
Texas State has over the last decade experienced economic growth; the population though has continued to experience health disparities associated with differences in the various cultural groups in the country. As a result, healthcare costs have increased particularly to the uninsured. This study delves into assessing Texas population by considering various demographics characteristics. In addition, this study establishes if there has been a shift in demographics over years in the Texas population. Moreover, this paper provides adequate information on the changes that have taken place in Texas citizens in relation to the diseases that are the most prevalent in that population.
Assessing Population
The population of Texas is the one in question. Population assessment entails the needs of the population that can be achieved through an agency or the community. Demographics in Texas show that it is the fastest growing becoming more diverse with a population of over 23.5 million people. Citation needed The demographic shift over the past ten years has shown that it has shifted to a minority state from a majority one. Anyway citation is needed, where do you get this information? Urban areas have continued expanding with its infrastructures including sewer and roads. Its population has doubled over the past ten years to about 12.7% of the entire United States population (Ross, Orenstein, & Botchwey, 2014). Texas has the largest rural population in the United States. It is projected that the population of Texas will continue increasing over the years (UNDP, 1985).
The common infections in Texas are STDs, TB and viral infections. HIV/STD transmission is of particular concern because of drug use, multiple partners and unprotected sex.
Center for Infectious Disease is an institution in Texas that partners with the University of Texas in conducting assessments that will include interviews, identifying community resources, organizing prevention programs and having wide community surveys. Citation needed The institution provides a report on the personal risks and interests and the capacity of the community and the agency that are involved in the intervention. Tools commonly used are the Internet and the social media in the interventions to instill the desired practices in Texas.
These questions were not answered:
“Indicate the level of specific incidence and prevalence of diseases in this population.” + “Distinguish the areas of concern derived from your assessment. You may focus on one illness, condition, or disease”
Before starting to discuss cultural competence you were to address the following questions:
“Assess your selected organization.Choose an institution or organization for review; this can include where you work or a local health care organization. Briefly describe the organization and the elements of cultural competence, and then evaluate your organization’s cultural competence according to the summary you provided.” – Apparently, this part is missing.
Transition missing Cultural competence is the ability to effectively relate with people from different social, economic and ethnic backgrounds. Cultural competence has been used among health workers to reduce health disparities in different regions. Moreover, cultural competence addresses issues on patients’ duce outcomes, quality of study, the effect on future research and the framework used. Therefore, cultural competence helps reduce health disparities, improving in such a way access to quality healthcare that is respective and responsive to patients (Sauter & Murphy, 1995).
Cultural competence can be argued to be positive as there is a good relationship between competence training and the outcomes of patients. The negative aspect of cultural competence is that it is costly since it involves high quality research (Poole & Van, 2004). Cultural incompetence undermines the foundational pillars that help reduce disparities in offering unbiased quality health care that is also culturally sensitive. Cultural incompetence will not respect the diversity in patients including their culture, language, styles of communication, behaviors, beliefs and attitudes (Hartwell, 2005).
Cultural competence also applies to the research and field teams as they have to take into account ethnical and racial aspects present in the target community (Hewitt Associates & Newfoundland and Labrador, 2011). If a marginalized population is omitted in the study, it can result in stigmatization and discrimination and as a result in health disparities. Cultural competence is a challenging aspect among health workers as it has to take into account all races, ethnic groups, lesbian’s gays bisexuals and transgender populations (LGBT), persons with disabilities, children and adults who all have varying degrees of visibility and cultural identification.
The priorities of cultural competence include people coming first, improving the abilities of health care providers, interventions that assist patients, addressing physical barriers to access and providing education to the target group. Communicating effectively as a healthcare professional is crucial to improving people’s health as well as that of the community (Hallin & Gustavsson, 2010).
Missing any transition again My organization can be termed as not being culturally competent if it does not have the capacity for cultural self-assessment, does not value diversity of people visiting the facility, it is not conscious with the cultural interactions together with the dynamics, does not have the required institutional knowledge and does not provide service delivery in a way that reflects its understanding of the cultural diversity in the society of interest. You should have started with this These are five elements that should be used to guide an institution in making policies and practices for it to be termed as culturally competent (World Health Organization, 1999). They are…. The organization under analysis does not comply with the following standards…
You tried to answer the following question: Are there areas within your organization that are (or are not) culturally competent? But you did not “Explain why or why not.” And you did not “Describe how this might be affecting health care service delivery in your organization….”
Cultural competence in a health care environment integrates issues that are population specific including culture and beliefs related to health, disease prevalence and treatment. Cultural competence should seek to honor and respect attitudes, interpersonal styles, behaviors and beliefs to those being offered the services by the healthcare facility (Hewitt Associates & Newfoundland and Labrador, 2011).
When cultural competency is developed and implemented as a framework, it enables the agency and community to function in an effective manner and also understand the health information of the group accessing the healthcare (Hersen, 2004).
Missing transition There are barriers in cultural competence where nurses have to familiarize themselves with new cultures of immigrants in the state of Texas. Culture influences the way people seek healthcare and their attitude towards healthcare workers. Healthcare workers are required to communicate and have the ability to understand different cultures and how they influence health (Cackley et al., 2009).
The above three paragraph need to relate to your organization, but they do not.
“….Summarize your findings.Based on your organizational assessment, can you identify additional barriers present or strategies to increase cultural compliance at your health care organization?”
Summary
Western medicine is argued to be the best in the world but that does not guarantee quality healthcare in the western world. There are health belief systems that have an effect on the well-being of the population. Patients sometimes mistrust healthcare providers based on culture and beliefs for no good reason. It is also required that patients, healthcare providers and nurses need to learn how to interact with patients in a way that shows respect to different cultural beliefs and backgrounds. Caring for patients who come from different cultural backgrounds still remains a big challenge since both a nurse and a patient do not understand each other’s perspective.
The above is meant to be the summary of the findings of your population and organization assessment, but it is not.
Conclusion
There is a need for trans-cultural nursing where healthcare workers provide care that is culturally specific. For it to happen, healthcare workers need to be familiar with ethnocentrism, races, ethnography and various cultural values. Nursing should focus on the similarities and the differences among different cultures with respect to human care.
References
Cackley, A. P., United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Homeland Security., & United States. Government Accountability Office. (2009). Department of Homeland Security: Organizational structure, spending, and staffing for the health care provided to immigration detainees: Testimony before the Subcommittee on Homeland Security, Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. Accountability Office.
Hallin, A., & Gustavsson, T. K. (2010). Organizational communication and sustainable
development: ICTs for mobility. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.
Hartwell, S. W. (2005). The organizational response to persons with mental illness involved with
the criminal justice system. Amsterdam: Elsevier/JAI.
Hersen, M. (2004). Comprehensive handbook of psychological assessment. Hoboken, N.J: John
Wiley & Sons.
Hewitt Associates., & Newfoundland and Labrador. (2011). Assessment and recommendations
for attracting and retaining registered nurses. St. John’s, N.L.: Dept. of Health and
Community Services, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Poole, M. S., & Van, V. A. H. (2004). Handbook of organizational change and innovation.
Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Ross, C. L., Orenstein, M., & Botchwey, N. (2014). Health impact assessment in the United
States. New York, NY: Springer.
Sauter, S. L., & Murphy, L. R. (1995). Organizational risk factors for job stress. Washington,
D.C.: American Psychological Association.
UNDP. (1985). Women’s participation in development: Inter-organizational assessment. New
York, NY: UNDP.
World Health Organization. (1999). Rapid health assessment protocols for emergencies. Geneva:
World Health Organization.
This source was not used HYPERLINK “http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/assets/pdf/checked/finalreport.pdf” http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/assets/pdf/checked/finalreport.pdf Requirements state “In completing this assignment, refer to the OMH’s National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health Care (CLAS standards).”
Criteria Overall evaluation Comments
Requirements -40% Most of the requirements were not met. For more details see the comments in the paper.
As was noted by the Editor, the paper is very general and lacks details.
Sources issues: some sources are outdated. The paper did not refer to “OMH’s National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health Care” as required by the instructions.
Missing citations. Often only paragraphs were cited, not sentences within.
Thesis + Structure – Now any clear structure. No transitions between the paragraphs. No clear flow of the ideas. Often sentences do not relate to each other, i.e. there is no any thought that would hold them together.
Issues with paragraphs: many of them are underdeveloped. They do not express any clear point.
Format +/- 83% Some issues in references and in-text citations.
Grammar +/– 82% Language is often confusing. Many phrases/sentences are awkwardly worded.
Word count + 97% Plagiarism +0% Grammarly report n/a * No comment was left (e.g. Grammarly 5% = invalid)
Secondary aspects: Preliminary evaluation + *PE is required in order to identify whether the paper needs to be edited/ revised.
97-100% paper n/a *97-100% papers are not allowed to be edited
Requirements grade explanation +/+ *Lowered grade for requirements should be explained in format comments/ explanatory message should be sent to the writer
Revision – revision was needed
Assessment – Check time – FINAL GRADE —
Explanation
of University of Chicago
argued that the purpose of education or the reason why students go to college is so that they can learn how to think for himself or herself. According to this scholar