Paper Example on Health Transitions Across Life Stages: Impact on Health Outcomes

Social and physical circumstances before birth, continuing through childhood and to adulthood, is one of the most influencing factors on the health care of an individual and ability to maintain good health. Critical transitions in a person's life are essential to developing excellent or poor health conditions (Lappe & Landecker, 2015). Some stages of life, such as school entry, puberty, pregnancy in women, childbirth workforce entry, menopause, paid workforce, and leaving influence healthcare. Age in patients with chronic health cognitions such as cancer is essential to determining the decisions that the medical doctors will consider for treatment. The life cycle of an individual mainly consists of five stages, including infancy, childhood, youthful stage and adulthood and old stage. This article analyses stages of life and the influence of age in healthcare.

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Various stages in life affect the way people interact with clinicians. For instance, it may not be easy for an older adult to have a severe health condition to explain appropriately about their health experiences due to forgetfulness, especially when the disease is more e considerate of the history of the family or health history of an individual. Defiantly life stages affect the quality of interactions between patients and clinicians (Lappe & Landecker, 2015). However, in many cases, the doctor influences patent' ability to express their problems regardless of their age and, therefore, is beneficial to have highly skilled medical personal to interact with patients, especially those at the old stage of life.

In many cases, the reproductive stage of life involves many healthcare challenges; having a child is a positive experience; however, the gestation period and childbirth can lead to suffering, health complications, and even death. At this point in the stage, and the individual must consider observing the quality of life in terms of dietary and other health factors to minimize adverse health impacts associated (World Health Organization, 2020).

Deferent stages of life have different perspectives on some of the lifestyle activities that may influence the physical or mental health of an individual. Lifestyle is one of the most significant elements in disease management; it is essential to consider people at old because they might not engage inadequately on physical activities and other health-related lifestyle practices. Every patient would want to have a patient-centered and supportive environment to achieve a homely atmosphere, access to outside, provision of amenities for recreation and leisure.

Stages of life and individuals' approach to life involve recognizing the significance of each stage of life and the environment involved in each stage. In many cases, the following life progress plays an essential role in one's life; newborn and maternal health, child and adolescent health, sexual and stage of reproduction, and healthy aging (World Health Organization, 2020). The progress in the life of an individual is influenced by age. The health risk for various diseases varies with different health issues, and information may be relevant to patients experiencing different health conditions at varying stages of life. For instance, the young population and health risk behaviors, mid-age population, sexual and reproductive stage, and elderly involves recognizing how caring, social isolation, and financial insecurity influence the health of an individual. Therefore, it is crucial to consider age-appropriate information on the health and promotion of relevant health materials for different specific stages of life.

Interview

Mr. Benkelman is a 78-year-old; he is my friend, suffering from throat cancer. In the interview that I conducted to determine the influence of life stages and age on his health experience here, some of the responses I gathered from him:

Me: Do you feel that your stageoflife had any effect on your interaction with health care professionals?

Mr. Benkelman: Yes, I had a better interaction with clinicians concerning his medical and social needs. I did not hesitate to answer questions. Explaining my problem during my diagnosis was effective, I was okay answering some of the personal questions because the clinicians explained the essence of the inform, I gave on my treatment intervention. My age helped to improve the quality of interaction.

Me: Which areas of the hospital or clinic were most concerned with your wellbeing and feelings?

Mr. Benkelman: Consultation room and word are one of the places where I felt clinicians were concern with my cognition; the nurses were attentive and concern with my health condition. They recommended me that I have regular visits from my family members, which interesting; it helped to boost my health and well-being.

Me: Was your family with you during this hospital stay or outpatient visit?

Mr. Benkelman: Yes, my family was present; their presence provided a homely atmosphere, emotional help, and concern about my condition in the hospital. However, the hospital lacked sufficient facilities to access the outside environment which desired to have.

Me: Was your family included in your treatment, such as postprocedure instructions?

Mr. Benkelman: Because of my age and nature of my condition, the doctors recommended family involvement during my treatment process. Some of the instructions required a family member's assistant. Their participation helped in maintaining my emotions and promote mental strength, which eventually leads to positive outcomes.

References

Martine Lappe & Hannah Landecker (2015) How the genome got a life span, New Genetics, and Society, 34:2, 152-176, DOI: 10.1080/14636778.2015.1034851

World Health Organization. (2020). Health at key stages of life - the life-course approach to public health. Retrieved from: http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/140671/CorpBrochure_lifecourse_approach.pdf