LONG-TERM CARE AND THE ELDERLY POPULATION

Long-Term Care and the Elderly Population

Long-Term Care and the Elderly Population

Introduction

The health service requirements of people in the USA have changed dramatically during the past century as a result of the shift from acute to chronic conditions and an increasing life span. In 1900, the major health problems stemmed from acute infectious diseases such as typhoid fever and smallpox. People usually recovered or died rapidly from those diseases. By midcentury, three chronic conditions alone—heart disease, cancer, and stroke—accounted for more than 50% of deaths; today, chronic illnesses are the predominant cause of death. Reductions in acute illness have contributed to a historic increase in life expectancy, from 47 years in 1900 to 73.6 years in 1997. Because the birthrate also is falling, elderly people constitute a growing segment of the population. By 2035, when most baby boomers will have aged, 01 in 05 US citizens (67 million people) will be of age 65 or over (see appendix). Disabilities can affect people of any age, but the rate increases with age. Only 2.4% of people under 65 need any assistance with daily activities, compared to almost half of those 85 and over. People with chronic illness frequently experience disability and require assistance over an extended period.

Discussion

This paper provides a model program for long-term care for elderly population. The program will be called “We love Elderly”. This program will work for 5% elderly people from 311,790,347. Initially elderly people living in Houston, Texas will benefit from this initiative and this will start in the next year. Houston, Texas has total population of 2,145,146 citizens.

Long-term care is the set of social services and health delivered over a continued time to people who have lost (or never acquired) some capacity for personal care; ideally, it enables recipients to live with as much independence and dignity as possible. Provided in institutional, community, and home settings, long-term care encompasses an array of services ranging from high-tech care to assistance with such daily activities as walking, bathing, cooking, and managing money. The care can be furnished by paid providers (formal care) or unpaid family and friends (informal care), or by a combination of the two. Long-term care differs from most topics discussed in this volume because it includes social as well as medical services. (Loucks, 2010)

Service Or Outcome Goal

We view nursing homes as a low-cost alternative to a hospital and consider community services and family care as less expensive substitutes for a nursing home—neglecting quality-of-life issues. Both policy makers and researchers also tend to ignore the diversity among older Americans, as well as the problems faced by low-income women who serve as caregivers (whether in a paid or an unpaid capacity).

Model Program

The model program “We love Elderly” will employ Nursing Homes Community-Based Services to partner together in some way(s) in order to obtain the goal.

1. Nursing Homes

The term nursing home covers a variety of institutions, including skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), which offer twenty-four-hour nursing care; and residential ...