Caring for the Elderly

Term Paper # 103690

Aging
Medical and Health

This paper identifies the issues in palliative care for geriatric patients.

1,407 words () | 14 sources | APA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper introduces the topic of palliative care for geriatric patients by explaining that the purpose of bringing attention to common problems in elderly patients is to avoid or alleviate some of the difficulties encountered prior to the final transition from life. The paper looks at elderly patients' propensity for being undiagnosed, misdiagnosed or under-treated in the areas of pain, confusion, satiety and anorexia, and gastrointestinal distress. The paper addresses the psychosocial issues of fears and depression and notes the importance of support systems to ease transition from life to death.

Outline:
Introduction
Altered Presentation of Health Problems
Psychosocial Issues

From the Paper:

"The geriatric population is gradually becoming the largest single demographic group worldwide. Ironically, efforts to address their special health care needs, especially with regard to palliative care, continues to progress at a slow pace to such a point that the present crop of health care professionals will be unable to adapt quickly enough to meet geriatrics' specialized needs (Besdine, Boult, Brangman, Coleman, Fried, Gerety et al, 2005; Swiss Academy of Medicine, 2004). The National Institute of Health (NIH, 2004) has reiterated this and the assessment that end-of-life care is particularly incoherent regarding its development and establishment as a science and have yet to develop consistent use of validated measures and explore further new interventions. The primary objective of this acute care nurse practitioner content development manuscript is to concisely consolidate salient features and issues regarding common clinical presentations of geriatric patients for use in a clinical setting. While this may drastically contrast from the approaches to palliative care, it is the contention of this paper that, through bringing attention these common manifestations in elderly patients, some of the difficulties encountered prior to the final transition from life can be avoided or at least alleviated."

Sample of Sources Used:

American Psychiatric Association [APA]. (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.
Besdine R, Boult C, Brangman S, Coleman EA, Fried LP, Gerety M et al. (2005). Caring for older Americans: the future of geriatric medicine. J Am Geriatr Soc., 53(6 Suppl), S245-56. Retrieved April 10, 2007 from the Pubmed database.
Cavalieri, TA. (2005). Pain Management at the End of Life Clinical Geriatrics, 13(3), 44-52. Retrieved April 11, 2007 from http://www.clinicalgeriatrics.com/cg/attachments/3879.pdf
Ganzini L. (2007). Care of Patients with Delirium at the End of Life. Annals of Long-Term Care, 15(3), 35-40. Retrieved April 11, 2007 from http://www.annalsoflongtermcare.com/article/6904
Kuljis RO. (2005). Alzheimer Disease. eMedicine. Retrieved April 11, 2007 from http://www.emedicine.com/neuro/topic13.htm