NRS 434 Assignment Human Experience

For The Patients

Health-Illness continuum is important when caring for patients in the healthcare system. The consideration of the health-illness continuum perspective allows healthcare professionals to identify or define a person’s actual status and the health complications that they are likely to develop. Consideration of the health-illness continuum for an individual is essential in the diagnosis processes; it is also important in the general care processes. Through the health-illness continuum, healthcare professionals are able to define human experiences with the diseases (Defo, 2015). As a result, they are capable of deciding on the right kind of care that is required. The Health-illness continuum can be used to describe patients’ movement from preventive care to actual hospital care and rehabilitation in general medicine. Mastering this concept can allow healthcare professionals to ensure continuity in an attempt to ensure effective treatment processes and ensure the attainment of quality health outcomes.

How the understanding of Health-illness Continuum Promotes Value and Dignity

The understanding of the health-illness continuum often leads to inherent dignity and values in the healthcare processes. Understanding an individual’s health and well-being allows healthcare professionals to apply ethical approaches in the treatment processes. They are also able to define the right treatment that is required. With the understanding of an individual or patient’s health-illness continuum, there is always a high possibility of delivering the right treatment processes, which is part of the values and dignity required in the healthcare processes (Sajnani, Marxen, & Zarate, 2017). The approach also allows healthcare professionals to administer the treatment are required. In most cases, healthcare professionals may give the wrong treatment or medication processes. However, with the health-illness continuum, there is the understanding of an individual health transformation, which can enable healthcare professionals to determine the right treatment to give accurately; this promotes dignity and patient values.

The overall State of Health

Going by the assessment of my overall state of health, there is a certainty that I am healthy. In other words, my state of health fall on the right side of the health-illness continuum scale. One of the behaviors that detract me from my state of health and well-being is the lack of an effective dieting plan. With ineffective dieting plans, there is a high likelihood of developing complications that may interfere with my general health and well-being. Therefore, adjustments are required to ensure that I do not fall to the left side of the health-illness continuum scale.

Some of the resources available to assist in the movement towards the extreme end of the scale (wellness) include medications that may ensure effectiveness in body operations. Also, there are preventive measures that may be observed to ensure the enhancement of health and well-being. Some of these preventive measures may include engaging in healthy diets to reduce the chances of developing cardiovascular diseases and other similar complications. By engaging in a healthy diet, an individual can easily recover from obesity and high blood pressure complications. The use of the right medication can allow patients to recover from complications that may interfere with their general health. Through the application of the above resources and options, an individual is able to achieve self-actualization.

Conclusion

The Health-illness continuum is an essential healthcare approach that allows both patients and healthcare providers to enhance care quality. It is also one of the evidence-based practice approaches that should be implemented in a different healthcare institution. With the health-illness continuum, an individual is able to understand their own health status and act appropriately in enhancing their wellbeing.

References

Defo, B. K. (2015). Beyond the ‘transition’frameworks: the cross-continuum of health, disease, and mortality framework. Global health action, 7(1), 24804. Retrieved from:

Sajnani, N., Marxen, E., & Zarate, R. (2017). Critical perspectives in the arts therapies: Response/ability across a continuum of practice. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 54, 28-37. Retrieved from:

Svalastog, A. L., Donev, D., Jahren Kristoffersen, N., & Gajović, S. (2017). Concepts and definitions of health and health-related values in the knowledge landscapes of the digital society. Croatian Medical Journal, 58(6), 431–435.

Describe the characteristics of the aging process. Explain how some of the characteristics may lead to elder abuse (memory issues, vulnerability, etc.). Discuss the types of consideration a nurse must be mindful of while performing a health assessment on a geriatric patient as compared to a middle-aged adult.

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Replies to Thomas Leen

Aging is an inevitable process in our lifecycle. Older adults are looked to for guidance and wisdom from those younger and far less wise than they are. When the mind or body starts to deteriorate younger generations tend to seek that guidance less and less. Some individuals tend to take in his or her parents when they get to the point where the body or mind start to diminish. After a time, these family members that take in the older aging adult can begin feeling the frustration of caring for someone else and not having them be the same person the family member remembers from younger years. Some examples of this frustration can be expressed through negative outlets such as verbal abuse, physical trauma inflicted, or lack of attention needed for daily living (bathing, eating, toileting, moving).

The population of older adults 65+ has steadily increased over recent years. According to Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics, “The prediction is that older adults comprise 21% of the population by 2030” (2016). The aging process will likely bring about other chronic health conditions in that time. According to Green, “frailty includes the presence of biomedical factors that reduce the older adult’s ability to endure environmental stressors, such as hospitalization” (2018). Alarming numbers are reported by The World Health Organization in regards to elder-abuse or neglect; an estimated 1 out of 6 older adults fall victim. This is saddening because often times the abuser/ person neglecting is a close family member caring for the older adult. Memory loss and decrease physical abilities (different from findings of middle age adults) are a few reasons these older adults fall victim to the hands of caregivers, but identification of the fear and injuries is vital to ensure a safe and caring environment.

Nurses must utilize thorough assessment skills in order to identify signs and symptoms of elder abuse. Scattered bruising around the body that appear different colors. This indicates that the bruises are from different time periods. Elder abuse can also come in the form of malnourishment, pressure injuries, or the far less visible emotional/ verbal abuse. Though emotional and verbal abuse are less noticeable, asking many questions and just listening to the patient will que in certain details that nurses can likely pick up on to further evaluate the safety of his or her environment. Understanding that the older adult will likely not address any mistreatment. Patients and family members alike trust nurses and the care they provide; using that relationship and asking more personal detailed questions about findings is important to keep the patient(s) safe.

References:

 

Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics. (2016). Older Americans 2016: Key Indicators of

Well-Being. Retrieved from 

Key-Indicators-of-WellBeing.pdf

Green, S. Z. (2018). Health assessment of the aging adult. In Grand Canyon University (Eds.), Health

assessment: Foundations for effective practice. 

assessment-foundations-for-effective-practice/v1.1/#/chapter/5

World Health Organization. (2018). Elder abuse. Retrieved from 

room/fact-sheets/detail/elder-abuse