Sociology Essay Sample on Rise in Geriatric and Palliative Care as America Ages

Over the recent past, the American healthcare system has faced an increase in demand for geriatric and palliative care. As the American population ages, the number of people requiring specialized medical attention is expected to rise to record numbers. The trend not only introduces a new phenomenon to healthcare institutions in the country but also poses unique challenges to the medical practitioners. Research and raw literature have shown that older patients often experience a myriad of challenges as a result of strained family budgets and ageism in healthcare facilities. Accordingly, government institutions and families of older persons must plan for increased budgets to meet the rising costs of end-of-life care. The paper will be organized as follows: significance of geriatric and palliative care, factors that influence elderly care, possible solutions to the challenges in the provision of health care, and interventions of nurses for quality outcomes.

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Geriatric and palliative care (GPC) occupies a significant position in the nursing profession. Often, nurses are the recipients of most the patient medical needs in hospital facilities. Whether the services are provided in care centers for older persons or in the hospitals, the role of the nurse would always be brought into the picture for better, and quality health services.GPC focuses on providing medical relief from symptoms and psychological disturbances of health conditions associated with old age(Cress, 2011). According to Cress, GPC seeks to improve the quality of life through closer partnerships between the health professionals and the families of the elderly patients.

While elderly some older persons lead an active lifestyle and make a considerable contribution to the socioeconomic development of the American society, the majority of such citizens often live with chronic conditions that require repeated medical attention. Ninety percent of Americans aged 65 years and above live with health conditions such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory problems (Colombo, 2013). The presence of such conditions and other old-age-related health illnesses cause several challenges to the affected persons and their families.

Old age predisposes people to cognitive problems and functional limitations. The presence of chronic conditions serves to aggravate the health situations of older populations. The Congressional Budget Office (2013) describes cognitive limitations as mental problems that restrain older persons from the performance of daily activities that require extensive brain engagement. On the other hand, functional limitations constitute the physical problems that hinder the ability of older persons to perform routine, mobile activities such as dressing, bathing, eating or preparation of meals. At least 30% of the people aged 65 and older report that they have experienced functional limitations while more than half of 85-plus -year olds report functional limitations (Congressional Budget Office, 2013). The highlighted impairments among the older citizens require assistance and long-term services from healthcare professionals, thereby constituting an important part of nursing and healthcare.

Older populations are those individuals that are aged 65 years and above (Cress, 2011). Statistics show that the mentioned persons constitute 14.5% of the US population, which translates to one person in every seven Americans. Projections of the growth of older populations indicate the total number of older persons in the country is expected to grow to 21.7% of the total population by the year 2040. Besides, the current population of older persons is projected to double by the year 2050 (Congressional Budget Office, 2013). This statistical information provides several implications for the government, healthcare professionals as well as health care providers in the country. In the UK, there are 11.6 million people aged at least 65 years. By 2040, persons aged 65 years and above are projected to rise to 24.2% of the population which translates to one person in every four Britons (UKs Office for National Statistics, 2016). The above statistics reveal a fairly uniform trend in the growth of older populations in the developed nations.

Factors that Influence Geriatric and Palliative Care

Aging, family contributions(emotional and material), cost, and the healthcare professionals play a significant role in the provision of geriatric and palliative care services in the United States (Colombo,2013). For quality treatment and management of chronic conditions of older patients, the mentioned factors must be considered for better and successful outcomes. According to Cress (2011), a framework that brings each of the group's yields outcomes that not only ensure better health for older persons but also strengthen the economic output of the affected individuals and their families.

Age influences the health of older persons and, thus, determines the type of medical attention that should be administered as well as the costs that would be incurred to manage age-related illness. By 2050, the number of older Americans aged 85 years and above will be more than 32 million. The increase will translate to 7.4% of the total population in terms of the 80-years-plus generation (Colombo, 2013). The population of nonagenarians and centenarians will be four times higher than the current population (Congressional Budget Office, 2013). Such trends point to an increase in the total resources for the provision of health care to the older persons.

Research and raw literature have shown that, as populations age, the cost of healthcare becomes more expensive. Healthcare expenditures for persons aged 80 and above are expected to account for the largest portion of government spending in healthcare in the next few decades. Findings from studies of Neuman et al. (2015) reveal that there is a steady rise in the cost of medical expenditures with age. The expenditure more than doubles between the ages of 70 and 95 and peaks at the age of 96. The spending accounts for both in out-of-the-pocket spending and government subsidies. The country's healthcare programs can be expected to focus more on geriatric, and palliative care beyond 2040, and most of the budgetary allocations will cover subsidies under the expanded Affordable Care Act platform (Congressional Budget Office, 2013).

Role of Family

Families of older patients influence GPC through out-of-the-pocket expenditures and emotional support of the affected relatives. In OECD countries, Colombo (2013) notes that 10 percent of adults aged at least 50 years spend more time caring for the aging family members than other daily engagements. Younger family members spend their time to care for the aged relatives through the mitigation of functional limitations. The care services may include the preparation of meals, bathing, eating and dressing, among other chores. The family members also help the aging persons to access medical facilities through the facilitation of their movements as well as making out-of-the-pocket contributions to the medical bills (Cress, 2011). These family caregivers command a substantial economic value in the US. The economic value of family-based services in the US is in the region of $350 billion each year, but some of the caregivers do not receive any remuneration for their services, and at least two-thirds are women (Colombo, 2013). This engagement is likely to reduce the economic value of these individuals efforts, thus, increasing their chances of leading a poor living standard after attaining the older age.

Despite the unique contributions of family members to the geriatric care, recent demographic changes depict a negative trend in regards to their commitment to the provision of care to older relatives. Over the recent past, the bond between family members has changed. The family is confined to the nuclear settings contrary to the intergenerational ties typical of families in the 20th century (Cress, 2011). Factors such as increased divorce rates, childlessness, remarriage, cohabitation, among others, have affected the consanguinity that was commonplace in many families(Silverstein and Giarrusso ,2010); Colombo,2013). This closeness ensured that elder persons within the family are attended. Nowadays, younger family members are more likely to be busier in their life schedules and may not have time to attend to older relatives. According to Silverstein and Giarrusso (2010), change of parenting styles and tensions between family solidarity and adult children independence raises mixed feelings regarding adult care. Under the current family set ups, adult children are more likely to be ambivalent towards the provision of care to their older relatives or parents.

Healthcare Professionals and Ageism

Healthcare professionals are often at the frontlines in the provision of geriatric care. In spite of the invaluable contribution to the delivery of such services, a variety of factors affect the quality of care given to older patients in the United States(Cress,2011). Notably, ageism has been documented as a significant hindrance to quality medical services to older persons. Despite the many accomplishments realized in the fight against systemic discrimination of older patients, the prejudice still continues not only in the US healthcare systems but also in other developed countries(Ouchida & Lachs, 2015). According to Ouchida and Lachs, ageism denies older patients the healthcare services requested and this treatment undermine their dignity, choice and other fundamental freedoms. Older persons at home settings also experienced ageism. Family caregivers are often overwhelmed by the demands of the older relatives, and this is likely to cause stress among the caregivers. The family dynamics such as tight schedules provide ground for conflicts between older parent attention and management of work schedules (Silverstein and Giarrusso 2010; Colombo, 2013). Interestingly, some older persons in many US households have grandparents as the providers of care to their grandchildren. The level of discrimination in such settings has received limited research which provides opportunities for future investigations.

Possible Solutions to Geriatric Care Issues

Economic factors, as noted earlier, may be a hindrance to the commitment of family members to the caring of older parents or relatives. Flexible work arrangements would provide opportunities for family members to attend their older relatives at home. As Silverstein and Giarrusso (2010) find, spending time with family members has psychological benefits to the older persons such as those that live with chronic conditions. As a result, they can manage the stresses that are associated with sickness and also old-age functional limitations. Moreover, flexible work arrangements would ensure that family caregivers sustain their livelihoods which, essential for the preparation their older lives, as well as protects these individuals from stress due the balance such arrangements provide between work and family attention.

Family caregivers face a risk of psychological problems due to the stress of meeting the daily demands of older parents/relatives. The effect may be as a result of the inability to mitigate the functional limitations of the older persons or the failure to manage emotions, especially when caring for persons with chronic health conditions (Neuman et al., 2015). As Colombo (2013) explains, family caregivers and friends need to be counseled so as to acquire the right skills that would enable them manage negative emotions associated with caring for older persons. Individuals aged 65 years and above are likely to experience problems such as poor vision and memory, weak body strength, and loss of appetite, amo...