Paper Example on Global Ageing: Rise in Life Expectancy & Demographic Revolution

Introduction

The life expectancy rate is continuing to rise worldwide, and currently, the world is standing in a demographic revolution threshold which can be referred to as global ageing. According to the world health organization report that was given after a research was conducted that the population of individuals from 60years and above is expected to rise from the existing 650million to approximately 2billion in 2050 (World Health Organization)

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General, it is considered that the people between the age of 60 years and above is rising on a faster rate than any other age group in existence in almost every country globally. Growing and change are inevitable factors within a person's life on earth, henceforth; once a parent who is ageing loses the ability to perform various activities effectively it is the responsibility of the child to make sure that the parent is well taken care of (Gerritsen et al. 41). In the modern industrial world whereby everyone has to work when they become of age to make ends meet by earning money, it becomes difficult for one to watch over their parents for a whole day. Henceforth, most people prefer taking their ageing parents to a nursing home whereby they can receive the required attention and care effectively to make life meaningful even at an old age.

Background Information

The criteria that the nurses employ towards taking care of the aged people and how they relate are of high value to ensure that the given ageing individual sees the advantage of life. A lot of training and skills is required in taking care of older people, and still, in performing the exercise, there are ethical considerations that the nurses have to employ towards their line of duty. Ageism tends to be one of the primary sources of ethical issues in the profession of nursing that tends to arise with taking care of older adults (Jakobsen, Rita, and Sorlie, 2790. This paper focuses on the ethical experiences and perceptions that are conveyed by the older adults who are having their stay in various nursing homes and how their expectations are met to ensure their stay in the nursing home is worthwhile

We are all different in various ways, and also all of us tend to age differently, not one person is similar to another person ranging from various factors such as appearance, abilities, morals, beliefs and even lifestyle. Every individual we see daily as we walk down the streets has a unique story that differentiates them from the rest of billions of people in the entire world. Growing up in diverse backgrounds, cultures, values and beliefs tends to affect each person's individualism and how that given individual is (Dogan, Hanzade, and Mebrure 15). Too often, people tend to fail in listening and recognizing that every person has their own special story, henceforth concerning the book written by Lorraine Code, "person and others" the study will approach the response of this given individuals by her study. Ethical experiences in taking care of the elderly are one of the various ways in improving the quality of service that is delivered to the group of people that gave life to us.

Objective

The primary objective of the present study is to investigate and evaluate the elderly peoples' opinion considering their ethical experiences and perceptions in nursing homes and how the various institutions can improve their quality of life and service that is delivered to them.

To explore the various exiting ethical challenges and dilemma that arise concerning services that are offered and are not yet addressed.

To assess how their ethical experience within the institution has been of any assistance towards their stay at the nursing home.

Ethical Experiences and Perception of Elderly People in Nursing Homes

The existing cooperation that is existing among the health caregiver and the patients are the major ethical consideration (Rosenthal, Gary and Sarah 32). The resources within these given institutions are not adequate, but the attention the patients receive from the given nurses tends to be a recommendable act. Nurses within these given institutions are highly trained to be professionals in their line of work, and henceforth they have the necessary skills required to adequately give the required attention to the elderly people. All of us are going to age at some point we will require care since our bodies would lose the ability to function effectively (Dogan, Hanzade, and Mebrure 26).

Henceforth, individuals who have become of the age of 60 years and above do not have to feel depressed or lonely within this institution, and various institutions have employed various activities that engage the elderly to have something creative to do and not just sitting down the entire day (Schenk et al. 24). Through the various employed activities, it shows great concern to the given patients since they can socialize with other older adults within the institution. Besides, they have sessions with the nurses whereby the can be taken for outside adventures to see the surrounding world. The relationship between the health care unit workers and the patient needs to be like that of a parent and child in relation the services required to be delivered, this creates an open communication between the two and (Van, Elisa, Bernadette, and Chris). Open communication is essential since there it acts as a controlled method to resolving an arising conflict, also it gives the workers an ease in understanding what the patient really wants and how they generally feel. In the part of the institution, when they portray open communication to the patients, they tend to create a true relationship with the patients whereby they tend to understand how things run within the institution, and they still have the privilege to enjoy their privacy and freedom within their stay (Mellor et al. 26).

The main challenge that was noticeable within the experience that was conveyed by the elderly people was the fact that the cultural values and beliefs tend to be conflicting. As explained earlier we are all different depending on our upbringing, and each is unique, nurses tend to be professionals while dealing with the ageing group and are supposed to respect each person's culture, beliefs and values (Dogan, Hanzade, and Mebrure 37 ). Applying this given ethical issue sometimes becomes difficult in the line of work since the factors tend to conflict. For instance, a conflict may tend to take place between what the given individual needs to know and also to be informed by the institution or family and what the institution or the family believe should be told or informed (Bass, David, and Linda 17). Most elderly people see this as the denial of their freedom to decide what is required within their life, hence it might bring discomfort and lack of expression since they feel as if the information they received is programmed for the situation.

The other challenge that was identified form ethical experience and perceptions among the elderly people were the poor management of people who die within the institution. Death is a common thing to witness among people who live within the nursing home, but the way the situation is handled or taken care of tends to be demoralizing to the patients (Evangelista et al. 37). The various physicians within the nursing homes could consider working together with nurses in providing awareness and advanced directives to the patients. For instance, they can educate the patients on the common adequate signs and symptoms, various existing control measures, also knowing moral and existing legal considerations.

Assisting an elderly person should be done with passion since one needs to recognize that the given individual is a parent to someone and contributed a lot towards the life of the given person directly or indirectly. Hence they should treat them as their parent (Gerritsen et al. 76). Hence having the feeling of belonging is an important aspect to the elderly people, the given patients should not feel like a burden to the society when they are in the respective health care units. Even though they are within the respective institutions, the overall feeling should be that of a home whereby they can have an advantage of making better decisions by themselves with the help of the nurses (Burton, Elizabeth, and Bart 29).

Conclusion

Various evidence has proven that the implementation of nursing home policies is not going to take place any time soon. Growing old tends to be challenging and difficult since it introduces hardship in aspects of emotions, physical and even mental wise (Shield 19). Henceforth the elderly group should be treated and attended to with similar attention closer to that of kids, and henceforth nurses have to employ ethical considerations within their work line to ensure that the elderly are well taken care of (Van , Elisa, Bernadette and Chris 38). The elderly people play an important part in society since they highly contributed to the better life we have currently. Hence they hold a significant position in the society. Although dealing with elderly people requires a lot of patience and skill it is mandatory to listen and recognize their position in society.

Works Cited

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Van der Elst, Elisa, Bernadette Dierckx de Casterle, and Chris Gastmans. "Elderly patients' and residents' perceptions of 'the good nurse': a literature review." Journal of Medical Ethics38.2 (2012). DOI: 10.1136/medethics-2011-100046

World Health Organization. World report on ageing and health. World Health Organization, 2015.