Homecare's Aging Population

The challenge America now faces is the number of people reaching retirement will double in number by 2030, and the U.S. population will increase almost 20 percent ("Our Aging Nation," 2015). The goal is for the elderly to maintain and live with independence and dignity, as well as, provide a wide range of professional health and social service expertise, home care, and residential support and services that will be needed ("Our Aging Nation," 2015). Since the number of caregivers needed for this population will not be able to meet the demands other resolutions are considered necessary.

Aging is a summary term of complex biological processes that occurs over the course of life. As an individual age’s, they experience a cognitive, functional and social decline that affects their activities of daily living and general health. As a result of these changes, the older population becomes more susceptible to a variety of illnesses. However, nurses can lessen the severity of these aging related illnesses by teaching and providing the best care for their clients in order to decrease the number of elders that suffer from these diseases through a variety of interventions and strategies. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the nurses’ role in promoting healthy aging in the older population, by addressing a significant issue that impairs the health of many older Canadian adults.

It is expected that with the baby boomers significantly using the health care dollars, the provinces and territories will end up spending 60% of their GDP on health care services which accounts to $530 billion dollars of debt ( Robson, 2001). This discrepancy will put pressure on the federal government and encourage provincial policy makers to rely more on the federal government for funding instead of finding their own way to manage their health care systems better. Population aging affects the demand for and costs of health care services, given that seniors account for about 45% of provincial/ government health care dollars (Ng,Sanmartin,Tu, Manuel, 2014, pg 15). Seniors are not only the largest user group of health care, but their hospital visits and admissions are higher than any other age group. This is merely because seniors tend to have more chronic conditions which derive them to use the health care services. Due to the health care problems that many seniors face, it is important to address the future directions in which the sustainability of the universal health care resides.

In addition, Community Care Services provides much needed monitoring and support service to ensure the older person is able to live in their own home. They cover everything from community nursing, meals, domestic help, personal care, home modifications, transport and day therapies and support for people with cultural and identifiable needs, as well as for people with particular health conditions. For example, meals on wheels services provide a nutritional food, Vital Call service to help the aged people in an emergency case. Some of the ways may support the older people are get assistance with “home help”,

Current numbers show substantial growth from the eighties, and estimates suggest that the demand for long term care among the elderly will more than double in the next thirty years. (Feder, Komisar, and Niefeld) This growth will exacerbate concerns about balancing institutional and noninstitutional care, assuring quality of care, and most importantly adopting and sustaining financing mechanisms that equitably and adequately protect the elderly who need long-term care.

Taking care of the individuals that are getting older takes many different needs. Most of these needs cannot be given from the help of a family. This causes the need of having to put your love one into a home and causing for the worry of how they will be treated. It is important for the family and also the soon to be client to feel at home in their new environment. This has been an issue with the care being provided for each individual, which has lead to the need of making sure individuals have their own health care plan.

Experience working in the field of health care lends insight to the growing needs of the older adult population, and the barriers which impede our capacity to meet them. As the Baby Boomer age is approaching older adulthood, the rise for financial,

I have identified the aging population (greater than 55 years of age) in Chatham/Kent, Ontario (in a community I am familiar and work within); a population on the rise and with minimal government and Ministry of Health support that enables seniors to maintain quality of life,

One thing every living organism has in common on this planet-- age. No one wants to age or face the fact that aging is inevitable. However, since it’s impossible to beat the never ending time clock that is life; everyone wants to be as comfortable as possible when age finally does catch up with them. When the majority of people think of comfortability in old age, they think of living in their own homes and being surrounded by their loved ones. Not many individuals want to be placed into a nursing home type facility because they can’t imagine themselves being comfortable that way. Nonetheless, even though being placed in a home does take away some of an elderly person’s independence, usually the independence lost is in activities that person can no longer do for themselves. Indeed, nursing homes do have their own set of scary stories behind them; life lost, independence lost, and privacy lost, yet many of those stories are outdated. Upon investigation, it would be easy for anyone to scare themselves out of a nursing facility due to the stories that are out there. Yet, upon even further research people would be able to see how far the United States has come in their development and evolution of nursing care facilities. The care of the elderly in the form of nursing homes has faced a tough evolution starting off with a harsh past, to what nursing homes are like now, and what people can expect for the future of these homes.

According to Statistics Canada, aging population has steadily increased since the mid-1960. The age of 65 and older comprised 15.7% of the country’s population. Promoting health in these aging population is very crucial to minimise the severity of health complications that might occur in the long run. Gerontological Nursing involves the care of aging people and emphasize the promotion of the highest possible quality of life and wellness throughout the lifespan (Eliopoulos, c2014 p73). Aging people need Gerontological Nurses who are knowledgeable and willing to promote health and optimum quality of life with the consideration of their core needs such as physiological balance, connection and gratification (Eliopoulos, c2014 p78).

Canadian Home Care Association, “Home Care 2020: A Vision of Health, Independence & Dignity,” available at

An article that looked at patients within hospitals in Ontario found that, about ten percent of patients waiting for a spot in long term care facility waited well over a year (Kondro, 2010). Therefore, it is known that more long term care and community dwellings for older adults are needed. Although, the constructions of more residences for older adults is important, location needs to be a priority when building these facilities. For the health of the older population, new residences need to be built within communities and neighborhoods. This will provide smoother transition into new living citations with less stress. Staying within communities would allow for familiarity; having one’s family doctors being a short distance away, access public transportation, having the opportunity to continue attending activities such as religious services. Also, remaining in one’s community may allow for feelings of being rooted in culture and receiving more culturally competent care. There are many neighborhoods within cities across Ontario and Canada that are rooted deeply in certain cultures, such as Italian or Finnish

The need for home care companion increases dramatically as Americans get older. By the year 2030, the number of people 65 years and older will require some type of assistance.

Many Americans prepare for adulthood by pursuing careers, building families and investing in homes. However, very few of us really think of old age and how it will impact our families. As stated by Greg Link in his journal, “The Administration for Community Living: Programs and Initiatives Providing Family Caregiver Support”, “for many older people, the ability to remain living at home in the community is often contingent upon consistent support provided by a family caregiver” (Link, 2015, p. 57). In essence, the authors point is that in order for older adults to live with dignity and age in place in their homes they require assistance from another individual. Furthermore, care takers play an imperative role in the lives of aging adults.

Canada is undergoing a demographic transition that will see a greater proportion of older adults that will require a greater understanding of their needs based on factual evidence. In an era where technology is growing more omnipresent, a challenge will be the need to overcome stereotypes that portray older adults as dependent and are unproductive. There needs to be a shift towards portraying older adults and effective and independent individuals and strengths and skills that should be acknowledged and utilized.