Caring For Elderly Adults

Caring for older adults is a growing field in the United States as the population aging continues to grow. In the year 2000 older adults only made up fifteen percent of the population. Compared to the rest of the population they required much more care. These older adults require four times more hospital days compared to other patients. They also are responsible for more than fifty percent of the hospital cost (Ahmed, Dyer, & McDaniel, 2012). Providing care for elderly adults is not only a job for nursing homeworkers. As stated above many elderly people are admitted into the hospital. Around half of those people admitted over the age of seventy have some form of dementia, delirium or in some cases both (Goldberg, Whittamore, Pollock, Harwood & Gladman 2013). The beat way to care for people with dementia is to provide them with person-centered care. This means monitoring the care of these patients to ensure they are receiving the best care possible. The problem with many hospitals is that they do not have the means to service people this way (Goldberg, et al. 2013). Some hospitals …show more content…
The study focused on over 179 people in Ohio who worked in the health care field (Moore, Patterson, Nair, Oliver, brown, Keating & Riva 2015). The study used a questionnaire to look into the steps they were taking to ensure elderly patients were receiving the proper care. On this questionnaire they listed forty-one care issues that that are common among elderly patients. The study found that most primary care providers were capable of dealing with patients with dementia. The need for proper care for elderly adults is a growing concern. As this population continues to grow it is important for everyone involved in the health care field to know how to properly care for these individuals. The better care that is provided for these individuals can lead to a better quality of life in the long