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The effects of chronic illness
Preventing or Curing Chronic Disease will not Continue to Reduce Disability.
Student’s name
Institutional Affiliation
Abstract
The effects of chronic illness particularly among an aging population can be dreadful. Chronic diseases are characterized by a long period of illness, long-lasting effects, many risk factors, complex causes, and impairment. The most common chronic diseases are cancer, stroke, respiratory diseases, arthritis, heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. This text is a discourse into whether the prevention and curing of chronic illnesses often leads to reduced disability. From my understanding of the topic that there is little or no correlation between reduced disability and reduced chronic disease. Patients ailing from various chronic diseases have limited capacity to work and contribute to development. An aging society leads to psychological related issues such as depression, dementia, and mental impairment. Social issues have to do with reduced productivity while economic issues point to strained social insurance and pension systems. There is a need to invest more towards research in the field of Biogerontology particularly towards chronic illnesses and the ways of reducing disability that comes from taking from patients suffering from chronic illnesses.
Topic Description: Preventing or Curing Chronic Disease will not continue to Reduce Disability.
Chronic diseases are illnesses persisting over a prolonged period that has long-lasting effects. Chronic illnesses are characterized by complex causes, many risk factors, and functional disability or impairment. On a worldwide scale, chronic diseases are the leading causes of disability and death. Some of the chronic illnesses associated with high mortality and morbidity are asthma; A World Health Report noted that disability, mortality, and morbidity associated with major chronic illnesses account for about 60% of all deaths and 43% of the burden of disease (Benetos, et. al 2017). The number was expected to increase to 73% and 60% of all deaths and global burden of disease respectively by 2020. Lung cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, arthritis, kidney disease, and oral disease. There is a strong link between poor health and disability; disabilities develop from chronic conditions and conversely, individuals living with disability are at increased exposure to having chronic conditions. Notably, chronic illnesses are accelerating on a global scale and continue to pervade people from all socioeconomic classes and from across many regions.
Without a doubt, preventing or curing chronic diseases does not translate into reduced disability. Research shows that chronic health conditions that have been ranked as the most prevalent are not known to necessarily be the cause of most disabilities. For instance, an analysis by LaPlante depicted an inverse correlation between the prevalence of chronic illnesses and disability risk. In essence, highly prevalent conditions have low disability risk while low prevalence conditions have an increased disability risk. Sinusitis which has a high prevalence among people of all ages reports less than 1% of its patients being limited in activity while low prevalence conditions such as lack of arms, multiple sclerosis, and lung cancer have a relatively high risk of disability. Disability and chronic disease are likely to compromise older people’s quality of life. 79% of people above 70 years are reported to have at least one out of the seven most disabling chronic diseases including cancer, stroke, respiratory diseases, arthritis, heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes (Rattan, 2018). Another reason why curing chronic diseases does not necessarily translate into reduced disability has to do with the fact that a combination of more than one condition has a considerable impact on the disability of the patient more so if they are old. Recently, more people have reported that the chronic conditions which they suffer limit their activities making them unable to do most activities by themselves.
My Understanding of the Topic
From my understanding, the topic Preventing and Curing chronic disease will not continue to reduce disability points to the notion that there is little or no correlation between reduced disability and reduced chronic disease. Patients ailing from various chronic diseases have limited capacity to work and contribute to development. This is because in most cases, the illness tends to make them immobile and because they are in a lot of pain, they often rely on other people such as nurses or a caregiver to help them complete even the simplest tasks such as eating and washing. I tend to disagree with the notion presented in the topic because reducing and curing the illness, reduces the dependency of people on a caregiver. This translates to reduced disability. People will no longer have to rely on others and they will be self-reliant. However, most chronic illnesses are unlikely to be cured because they are terminal. Diseases like cancer however can be prevented and cured but only if they are discovered early enough. As such, the chances of reducing disability are minimal as most chronic illnesses do not have a cure and they advance with time.
The Impact of Improved Aging Society on Disability
Psychological Impact
There is evidence to suggest that aging brings about natural changes in a person’s body. The changes are likely to increase the likelihood of going through depression. As a person ages, there is a reduced concentration of folate in their nervous system and blood which leads to psychological related issues such as depression, dementia, and mental impairment. In turn, these factors only serve to increase disability. This is because people dealing with psychological issues rely on others and cannot be trusted to stay by themselves as they may cause inflict self-harm.
Social Impact
Aging leads to emotional and social changes. With age come labor issues where people are not as productive compared to when they were young. Elderly people are not hired because they are weak and some have age-related diseases which limits their productivity. They suffer from a condition such as cataracts, diabetes, depression, neck and pain and hearing loss. As a result, they always have to depend on other people since they are not very involved in any activity which leads to increased disability.
Economic Impact
An aging society has economic implications as a result of the strain placed on social insurance and pension systems. Keeping in mind that with old age comes the possibility of more serious diseases, if an individual does not have an insurance cover or a pension scheme, it means they have to rely on other people or the government for help which translates into increased dependency. The government has to channel more funds towards taking care of the vulnerable and aging population.
Personal Thoughts on Biogerontology
From my perspective, I feel there is a need to invest more towards research in the field of Biogerontology. There is a need to explore more particularly chronic illnesses and the ways of reducing disability that comes from taking from a patient suffering from chronic illnesses. Aging leads to socio, economic and psychological problems on the patient which increases dependency as they cannot carry out most activities by themselves and they tend to rely on other people for assistance.
References
Benetos, A., Toupance, S., Gautier, S., Labat, C., Kimura, M., Rossi, P. M., … & Aviv, A. (2017). Area: Biogerontology and genetics. In 13th International Congress of the European Union Geriatric Medicine Society–Developing Preventive Actions in Geriatrics (Vol. 8, p. 40).
Rattan, S. I. (2018). Biogerontology: research status, challenges, and opportunities. Acta Bio Medica: Atenei Parmensis, 89(2), 291.
Predictors of Hearing Aid Use Time in Children with Mild-Severe Hearing Loss
Subject
Students Name
Institution of Affiliation
DatePredictors of Hearing Aid Use Time in Children with Mild-Severe Hearing Loss
The hearing problem among the children has been a significant problem as the diagnosis has not been made possible to various factors that may include reduced parental concern as well as late diagnosis. Various factors are as well attributed to causing the mild-severe hearing loss, and due to this, there has raised a need to conduct intervention measures to help the children with hearing problems. The purpose of the study, therefore, is the investigate the predictors of hearing aid use in time for the children diagnosed with mild, severe hearing loss.
The main questions in this investigation include; which child and family specific variables predict hearing aid use time in children who are hard of hearing? And what challenges do parents encounter with hearing aid compliance across ages and situations? Besides the investigation of the predictors of hearing aid, the study also examines the barriers to consistent hearing aid use as well as the reliability of the parent report measures. The questions under this purpose include; Are parents accurate at estimating average daily hearing aid use time? And which child and family specific variables predict how accurate parents are at estimating average daily hearing aid use time?
The first study sought to determine the child and family specific variables predicted that predicted the amount of time that children wore their hearing aid, on average, during the week and on weekends. The study also examined the variation of pediatric hearing aid use across listening environments as well as the challenges that are posed by different situations for consistent hearing use. The second study sought to examine the accuracy of parental estimates of average hearing aid use time for the children during the week. The accuracy was determined through the comparison of parent report data from the hearing aid use questionnaire to the objective data logging measures that was acquired from the children’s hearing aids. In this study, the secondary objective was to investigate the variables that predicted parents’ the estimation on the accuracy of the hearing aid use time in their children.
The participants of the study included the parents of 272 children with hearing loss. The parents provided the estimated amount of time their child used the hearing aid daily. Regression analysis was used to statistically analyze the data examining the relationship among the independent variables and hearing aid use time. Data logging from the hearing aid was compared to the parental estimates to determine the parental accuracy of the hearing aid use time.
The results from the study postulated that the longer hearing aid use was related to older age, higher maternal education, and poorer hearing. The maternal education level influences the amount of time to wear hearing aids. The parental consistency ratings revealed similar findings that younger children and children with more severe hearing losses wore the hearing aids less consistently than the older children and children with more severe hearing loss. The parents’ estimation and data logging were significantly correlated. However, the results of the study suggested that parents overestimate the amount of time their children wore hearing aids.
The limitations of the study were the exclusion of the children with multiple disabilities, those who did not use English as a primary language, children with cochlear implants, children with profound deafness and unilateral hearing loss in an attempt to control the various cofound. The exclusion criteria limited the study’s ability to generalize the results beyond the current subset of children who are hard of hearing. The findings of the study provide evidence that certain variables were significantly related to the amount of time the children wore the hearing aids. The consistency rating scales gave an insight into circumstances that were challenging for families. The combination of data logging and parental estimations are crucial in that they allow the researchers and clinicians to obtain a general estimate of the hearing aid use time.
The effectiveness
The effectiveness of Abstinence Programs
Name
Institution
Date
The effectiveness of Abstinence Programs
Early sexual activity among teenagers is something that has attracted the attention of the nation as its effects can be seen in terms of early teen pregnancies, increase in sexually transmitted diseases, indulgence in behaviors such as smoking and alcoholism and emotional and psychological problems. This led to the formation of abstinence programs of which some of them have been incorporated into the school’s curriculum. Sexual education is majorly divided into two categories; comprehensive sex education and abstinence-only programs. Comprehensive sex education involves providing information that is evidence-based, medically correct including the use of contraceptives and condoms while educating on normal reproductive development. Abstinence education programs on the other hand advocate for abstinence as the only way of preventing pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases/infections (Wind, 2017). These programs educate on the effects of early sexual activity, personalities and responsibilities, children born out of wedlock and how to withstand peer pressure. This paper will analyze the different programs such as comprehensive risk, teenage pregnancy rates, and other school programs that serve a similar purpose. It will also analyze how effective these programs have been in reducing teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted programs. Abstinence education programs have proven effective in reducing early sexual activity. Supporters of abstinence education claim that exposing teenagers to these programs reduce the probability of them engaging in their first sexual activity (Dailard, 2003). This, in turn, delays the chances of them getting early pregnancies and other diseases. One such program is the Virginity pledge program where teens between grade 7 and 12 pledge to remain virgins until marriage. A study that was done to determine the effectiveness of this program showed that teenagers who participated in this program were at a lower risk of engaging in early sexual activities. However, despite such programs, teen pregnancies are still frequent and often affect the teen parents, their education and social-economic life and even the emotional and psychological health. Statistics show that in 2015, the USA recorded a total 220,000 teen pregnancies. This was narrowed down to 2 pregnancies in every 100 girls (Hauser, 2005). This can be explained by the fact that abstinence education programs only claim that abstinence is the only way that youths and adolescents can protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (Wind, 2017). They do emphasize on the failures of medical measures such as the use of condoms and contraceptives. Teenagers end up having limited or no information on things that could save their lives. They are also pre-exposed to dangers of contracting deadly diseases such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which is responsible for causing cervical cancer. Moreover, teenage pregnancies result in most students stopping their education to take care of their children. Cases of these pregnancies in areas that are of a lower social-economic class further result in challenges in bringing up the child and creates a continuum of the cycle of poverty in such places.
Abstinence-only education programs cannot be entirely relied on in reducing sexual activities in teenagers, hence the need for comprehensive risk reduction of STD and HIV programs. Given that the abstinence programs fail to educate on alternatives to protecting themselves in sexual activities, comprehensive programs need to be incorporated as well to ensure that teenagers do not make decisions out of ignorance (Hauser, 2005). Studies have shown that as teenagers grow older, there are higher chances of them engaging in sexual activities. They, therefore, need complete information on the dangers of it as well as alternatives in protecting themselves. Comprehensive risk programs can also take place in school programs as well as in community organized programs. Setting up of these programs resulted from the observation that adolescents were more vulnerable to acquiring diseases like AIDS. Therefore, education alone was not enough to guarantee their protection. This prompted the start of these programs that teach on the risks involved and methods of protecting themselves. The programs have so far proved to be more effective in behavior change among teenagers with regard to sexual activity. These behavior changes include a reduction in the frequency of engagement in sexual activities, number of partners, reducing sexual activity and the rate of unprotected sexual activity. Besides that, the use of contraceptives has also gone high reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies. In a study that was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of comprehensive risk programs, it was found that schools that had implemented comprehensive risk programs recorded lower rates of teenage pregnancies as compared to schools that relied on abstinence programs alone (Kirby, 2008).
Moreover, it is important to note that comprehensive risk programs have been effective in changing behaviors of students as they are more aware of the risks and hence understand the responsibilities that come with sexual activity. School intervention programs such as the distribution of condoms and education on how to use them are some of the measures that have been employed by schools to ensure their students do not engage in risky sexual behavior (Silva, 2002). They also claim that the implementation of such programs does not encourage engagement in sexual activity but rather practically teaches students on responsibility and how to take care of themselves. Comprehensive risk programs have also proven to better in creating awareness on the spread of HIV/AIDS as they are more engaging and do not tend to withhold information. An important feature of comprehensive risk program is that the content can be adjusted to fit to be age-appropriate and suitable for the socio-economic group in question. In addition, comprehensive education teaches on other matters such as sexual expression, gender, healthy sexual and non-sexual relationships, consent and decision making and finally recognizing and moving away from sexual violence. These are important aspects of sexuality that are not talked about in abstinence programs which affect people in many ways.
Another way of ensuring effectiveness in abstinence education programs is tailoring school programs that educate students on sexual activities from an early age. This could be done, (especially for children in lower grades) as an addition to the abstinence programs that have been integrated into the school’s curriculum. Children tend to be curious, and while it may be the role of parents to educate them on sex, the school pays a significant part in it as they tend to spend most of their time there. Most adolescents start school before initiating sexual activities. It becomes crucial that they are educated on the same thing before they start engaging in sex to ensure their social and health safety (Dailard, 2003). The broadness of the content in these programs could vary as they move higher in their grades. When this is used together with abstinence education and comprehensive risk education, children will be more informed and will approach the subject and its consequences with reason and caution.
Additionally, schools that are located in areas that are characterized by poverty have high chances of their teenagers engaging in early sexual activity. This can be attributed to the fact that the levels of exposure in such areas are much lower compared to schools located in areas of high earning. A similar trend is witnessed in teenagers who come from disorganized families such as families with parents who are absent or those who abuse drugs and have to rely on schools to educate on most things about social life. In such families the children are neglected and often have to cater for themselves and their siblings if any, leaving vulnerable to things like sexual predation hence early initiation into sexual activities. Therefore, it is essential for the school to start such programs at an early age to ensure that the probability of engaging in risky sexual behaviors is reduced as well as unwanted pregnancies.
Creators of these programs should know the consequences that come with teens engaging in early sexual activities as well as the dangers of not practicing safe sex. The policies and content that they create should be structured around these aspects such as age, socio-economic background, geographic location, race, and ethnicity. Abstinence-only education programs serve to educate on the benefits of delaying participation in sexual activities, but it does not teach students on the risks involved when they choose to engage. This leaves teenagers exposed and ignorant, something which can be covered by integrating comprehensive risks education programs. Some of the risks that are discussed in comprehensive risk reduction programs are sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS, early pregnancies, high-risk behaviors such as drug and substance abuse and physical and emotional challenges (Kirby, 2008). However, the effect of behavioral abstinence programs cannot be ignored as it continually forms a platform where teens can engage professional and teachers on matters concerning sex.
Some of the abstinence programs that have proved effective in reducing sexual activities include; Teen Aid Family Life education Project, Project Taking Charge, Operation Keepsake and Abstinence by Choice among others. These programs have formed the basis of other programs and their effectiveness in the subject. All in all, both abstinence and comprehensive risk education programs are useful in reducing teenage pregnancies and risks of contracting diseases among others by ensuring that teens are delayed in initiating sexual activities.
References
Dailard, C. (2003). Understanding ‘Abstinence’: Implications for Individuals, Programs and Policies. Retrieved March 18, 2019, from http://www.pauldavidtuff.com/PDF Files/Guttmacher Abstinence Only.pdfThis article describes the important of abstinence and the programs. The word “sex” is commonly acknowledged to mean different things to different people. The same can be said for “abstinence.” The varied and potentially conflicting meanings of “abstinence” have significant public health implications now that its promotion has emerged as the Bush administration’s primary answer to pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention for all people who are not married.
Hauser, D. (2005). Teens Deserve More than Abstinence-Only Education. Retrieved from https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/teens-deserve-more-abstinence-only-education/2005-10
This journal article describes nearly 10,000 teens in United States are getting pregnant, STDS, and HIV diseases. The overly basic “just say no” approach to teens and sex is unrealistic and dangerous. Censoring vital information that young people need to protect their health dangers their lives. Henry A. Waxman found that 80 percent of the most popular curricula used by federally funded abstinence-only education programs changes information about the effectiveness of contraceptives and condoms, the risks of abortion, blurs religion and science, treats stereotypes about girls and boys as scientific fact, and contains basic scientific errors.
Kirby, D. B. (2008). The Impact of Abstinence and Comprehensive Sex and STD/HIV Education Programs on Adolescent Sexual Behavior. Retrieved March 18, 2019, from https://search.proquest.com/docview/858942751?pq-origsite=gscholar.
This article describes an effort to reduce unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease (STD) in adolescents, both abstinence and comprehensive sex and STD/HIV education programs. Study results demonstrated that most forbearance programs did not defer inception of sex and just 3 of 9 had any huge constructive outcomes on any sexual conduct. In contrast, about two thirds of comprehensive programs showed strong evidence that they positively affected young people’s sexual behavior, including both delaying initiation of sex and increasing condom and contraceptive use among important groups of young people.
Silva, M. (2002). The effectiveness of school-based sex education programs in the promotion of abstinent behavior: a meta-analysis. Health Education Research, 17(4), 471-481. doi: 10.1093/her/17.4.471. Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/her/article/17/4/471/590928
This article describes how certain schools teach sex education but don’t mainly speak about being abstinence. Sexually active teenagers are a matter of serious concern. In the previous decades many school-based projects have been intended for the sole motivation behind postponing the commencement of sexual movement. There seems to be a growing consensus that schools can play an important role in providing youth with a knowledge base which may allow them to make informed decisions and help them shape a healthy lifestyle
Wind, R. (2017). Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs Are Ineffective and Harmful to Young People, Expert Review Confirms. Retrieved from https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2017/abstinence-only-until-marriage-programs-are-ineffective-and-harmful-young-people
This article was about how when taking abstinence until marriage programs are good for young people. Laura Lindberg a research scientist says These programs withhold important sexual health knowledge and provide medically inaccurate information that compromises young people’s healthy sexual development.” In theory, abstinence is 100% effective at preventing pregnancy and STIs. Though, many adolescents who intend to practice abstinence fail to actually do so, and they often fail to use condoms or different types of contraception when they do engage intercourse.