Caring For Elderly at Home versus Nursing Homes and Assisted Living (PDF)

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2016 in the subject Health - Public Health, grade: 1, Egerton University, language: English, abstract: This paper will provide an overview of caring for the elderly in which it will focus on caring for elderly at home verses nursing homes and assisted living.

Caring for the elderly is becoming an enormous challenge to the U.S healthcare system. It has become a significant public health issue whereby the elderly population requires extensive care from their families. Currently, the population of persons aged 65 years and above is estimated to be 39.6 million, which is equivalent to12.9% of the total U.S population. Research indicates that the percentages of elderly persons have increased significantly in the last decade. In 2000, the percentage of the elderly population was found to be 12.4%, so it has increased by 0.5% within a span of 10 years, and this is predicted to reach as high as 19% by 2030. This implies that the population of older persons will be about 72.1 million which will be more than twice their population in the year 2000.

In this context, care for the elderly will serve as the most principal approach in enhancing their health and social wellbeing. Caring for the elderly people involves numerous aspects, which require comprehensive evaluation to ensure that people at old-age enjoy a high quality of life. Ordinarily, elderly people are faced with health challenges owing to their aging bodies which are susceptible to illnesses. For instance, most old people experience mental degradation leading to memory loss. In addition, some people develop loss of vision and hearing abilities while others suffer from mental disorders such as Alzheimer's and dementia. In theory, care-giving serves as the most principal requirement for the elderly for improved health. However, care-giving is usually faced with challenges owing to the complexity of decision making, availability of resources and experiences of care-givers. Ideally, elderly persons are supposed to be taken care of in a safe and healthy environment.