Verified Document

Diversity In The Elderly Population Elderly There Essay

Diversity in the Elderly Population Elderly

There is an abundance of diversity of the newest elderly generation. There is a lack of diversity in the health care coverage for the elderly. This would not exist in the future of health care. It is simply not practical nor ethical to ignore this issue of geriatrics as part of the visualization of the future of health care. Subtracting ethics for those who do not care about the elderly, on a practical level, soon there will be too many elderly around to ignore them and their needs. They will likely become an increasing voice of influence on issues such as this one and others, if only because of their great numbers. Those numbers are projected to continue to escalate.

This author imagines a future of health care where all elderly people have access to free, low cost, or subsidized quality health care. In such a future, the health care for the elderly would be prompt, comprehensive, and highly accessible. In the present, the diversity of the aging population has proliferated around the world with respect to ethnicity and culture, but also additionally with respect to the needs of this population.

The number of older adults in the United States will almost double between 2005 and 2030, and the nation is not prepared to meet their social and health care needs. The baby boomer generation starts to turn 65 in 2011, which will create multiple challenges for the health care system. For one, the majority of older adults suffer from at least one chronic condition...

Additionally, this generation of older adults will be the most diverse the nation has ever seen with more education, increased longevity, more widely dispersed families, and more racial and ethnic diversity, making their needs much different than previous generations. Another problem is the dramatic shortage of all types of health care workers… (Institute of Medicine, 2008, 1)
The sheer number of elderly people provides context, insight, and guidance for us now. It is a practically a guarantee that each one of these elderly persons will require some form of health care provision. If people do not adapt to this surge and change, there will be some effects with which we will unable to handle and others that we will be unable to foresee. Ignoring or not providing adequate, diversified attention to this issue as part of the visualization or plan for future health care, is a mistake that can and should be avoided.

Socially, ethically, and practically speaking, it is very important to care for all generations, the elderly generation included. Older people have more life experience. A number of them offer and share wisdom and perspective gained through their lives. That is a perspective that is priceless and useful, even in today's world. This is a perspective that can only be nurtured and preserved by health care that is as diverse as the present and future elderly population. This means professionals who speak various languages, are…

Sources used in this document:
References:

America Geriatric Society. (2005). Caring for Older Americans: The Future of Geriatric Medicine. Journal for Aging Geriatric Society, 53(6), S245 -- S256.

Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. (2008). Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce. Web, Available from: ReportBriefRetoolingforanAgingAmericaBuildingtheHealthCareWorkforce.pdf. 2014 February 03.

The Economist Intelligence Unit. (2009). Healthcare strategies for an ageing society. The Economist, Web, Available from: http://graphics.eiu.com/upload/eb/Philips_Healthcare_ageing_3011WEB.pdf. 2014 February 03.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Diversity and Psychology Derived From the Greek
Words: 1273 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Diversity and Psychology Derived from the Greek word, psyche "meaning 'breath, sprit, soul' and the Greek work logia meaning the study of something," the study of psychology is "the science of the mind and behavior" (Nordqvist, 2009). In the medical dictionary, psychology is "The profession (clinical psychology), scholarly discipline (academic psychology), and science (research psychology) concerned with the behavior of humans and animals and, related mental and physiological processes" (Nordqvist, 2009).

Diversity Exercise 5: Population Survey It Was
Words: 4243 Length: 9 Document Type: Term Paper

Diversity Exercise 5: Population Survey It was in October 1997 that the Office of Management and Budget or the OMB announced that the standards for the gathering of federal data on race and ethnicity in the United States of America would be changed from thenceforth, and that the minimum categories for race would be form then onwards, divided into the following categories: American Indian or Alaska Native; Asian; Black or African-American; Native

Diversity in Living Arrangements Among the Elderly
Words: 2133 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

Living Arrangements Among the Elderly This is an eight page paper concerning the diversity in living arrangements among the elderly. There are six references used. Introduction People today are living longer, which means there is a large elderly population in our society. There are many concerns facing the elderly, one of which is housing. The elderly have several options available to them and it's interesting to see how diverse they

Diversity Important in Health Care
Words: 3805 Length: 14 Document Type: Thesis

The Foundation called specific attention to the prospect of institutional and policy-level strategies to increase the participation of under-represented minorities in the health professions. In response, the Institute Committee on Institutional and Policy-Level Strategies for Increasing the Diversity of the U.S. Healthcare Workforce came out with a report, entitled "In the Nation's Compelling Interest: Ensuring Diversity in the Health Care Workforce." The Committee consisted mostly of academicians, two of

Dental Care in Ethnic Populations Over 65
Words: 580 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Dental Care in Ethnic Populations Over 65 Borrell, L.N., Burt, B.A., and Neighbors, H.W. (2004, May). Social Factors and Periodontitis in an Older Population. American Journal Public Health. 94(5), 748 -- 754. PMCID: PMC1448332 This article discusses the relationship between age, ethnicity, socio-economic status, and educational level with respect to oral dental health and particularly focuses on periodontitis. Research and conventional wisdom have long pointed to poorer health outcomes for people with

Global Health Human Diversity and Disease Prevention
Words: 2780 Length: 10 Document Type: Research Paper

Senior Citizens and the Growing Risk of HIV / AIDS HIV and AIDS are widely recognized as posing a serious challenge to the public health. Efforts at outreach, dispersal of information and prevention are extensive and have targeted high-risk groups such as sexually active teenagers, minority groups and women. Outreach has overlooked fastest growing population of HIV / AIDS sufferers in senior citizens The discussion here is intended to illuminate the dangers posed to

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now