Aging is a process that comes with various challenges. It is no exception that every older person should undergo specific critical changes. Much of the aging changes have been attributed to genetics in addition to the already existing environmental factors. These changes often manifest themselves in the form of losses. The losses range from one aspect of the body to the other. It is due to the immense effects of these changes among aging people that result in unsustainable healthcare costs and decreased quality of life. As a result of these changes aging people loses their independence in life, and in most instances, they become a burden in their society. It is, therefore, imperative to validate the effects of aging by delving into physiological, functionality, and sensory changes. There is also a need to propose best practices that are embedded in long-term care options.
Physiological Changes
Physiological changes are imminent among the aging population. The negative side of it emerges through its impacts on the aging individual. This is because physiological changes occur in three critical aspects of the body. The first aspect involves the homeostatic mechanism of the individual. Homeostatic is an essential mechanism that the body relies on to carry various activities of the body system. This is an implication that the body's blood system is massively compromised. Elderly individuals will find it challenging to maintain the levels of their blood pressure due to the weakened body system (Nigam et al., 2012). This is a factor that has led to cases of increased heart diseases among older adults. Aging people are also likely to experience reduced levels of extracellular fluids, an effect that is attributed to physiological changes.
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The second aspect under physiological changes in older adults encompasses the loss of body mass. This is because as older adults start to experience physiological changes, the reduction of mass in various body organs in apparent. This means that they are likely to weigh less due to the increased rate of physiological changes. Lastly, physiological changes impact the functional reserve of the body system. The affected individual is inhibited by the inability of the body to function appropriately to aid the everyday body's activities.
Functional Changes
Functional changes may be among the first differences that are noticed in most of the aging people. Physical changes primarily encompass the strength and the ability of an individual to engage in physical activities. Lack of functional abilities has been recognized as one of the leading causes of complications among aging people. Lack of physical activities has also been attributed to the increased number of hospitalization recorded in many hospitals. Functional changes are apparent in many elderly people, and it renders them inactive to participate even in their important personal activities such as hygiene.
Functional changes among the elderly pose several risks that may increase the vulnerability of an individual to adverse effects. This is because the lack of physical activities leads to the development of different kinds of health conditions (Tomas et al., 2018). This has been a significant setback in achieving quality life for the aging population. This is because they are highly susceptible to diseases that result from a lack of exercise, leading to hospitalization. This is an implication that the continuous experience of functional changes among the aging people increases their levels of functionality loss. This, in return, influences the downward spiral in the life of the aging person.
Sensory Changes
Sensory changes involve the most significant differences when it comes to older adults. Despite the fact they affect small body organs, they add up as essential parts of the body. This means that their impacts significantly affect the quality of life of the affected individuals. The eyes are among the first organs to be affected in aging people when it comes to sensory organs. This is because the aging changes that take place inhibit the abilities of the eye to function correctly. The individual may start losing their near vision abilities. This means that they have to struggle to identify different things with their eyes. They will also require great light for vision as they change their color perception. Thus, they cannot differentiate various types of colors as they would do initially.
The ears are also affected as many older people cannot hear low voices, while others will require explanations to understand some of the common words they were used before the sensory changes. The brain and the nervous system are also impacted as a result of aging changes (Jaul & Barron, 2017). This explains a scenario where an older person conducts brain signals slowly, and the brain cannot send messages like before the sensory changes occurred.
Long-term Care Options
The elderly have been recognized in society as people who need special attention as a result of the aging changes. This has promoted the establishment of long-term care services that seek to alleviate the condition facing the elderly in society. Long-term care options for the elderly involve various services that aim at ensuring that the elderly status is not impacted by most of the external environments. This is an implication that long-term care services minimize the risk of external influences while at the same time, it targets to improve the quality of life of the affected (Blackburn, Locher & Kilgore, 2016). They include medical and non-medical services, individual and coordinated services, and maximization of individual's quality life. They can be found in both home and community set-up, providing options for the affected individuals.
Medical and Non-Medical Services
The long term care options have been categorized into both medical and non-medical services. Medical services encompass different conditions in elderly life that require medication to combat. In most instances, medical facilities are given by qualified healthcare personnel. This means that medical care can be provided in home-based services or other set-ups that are designed to take care of the elderly.
On the other hand, non-medical services involve a lot of activities that are also designed to help an elderly individual to get along with a healthy life. They include bathing, grooming, and even dressing. This type of service has been categorized under personal care as they primarily target to change the status of the individual by the use of medical and non-medical channels.
Individualized and Coordinated Services
Personalized and coordinated services include the provision of services that are primarily designed to fit the needs of the older person. This means that the individual is accorded with specialized services, whether it is in a home or community-based care center. The levels of services provided under the individualized case require high levels of expertise to match the demands of the older person. Skilled professionals are called in this case to deliver services that seek to address chronic conditions that cannot be performed by a family member or any other caregiver. Individualized and coordinated services are significant because they aim at improving the quality of life of an older person by minimizing the development of chronic conditions.
Maximizing Individual’s Quality Life
Long-term care also targets to optimize the quality of life of older people. This is because it primarily encompasses some of the basic needs of the individual. This is an essential aspect of long-term care services because they are designed to be offered to older people by anyone without requiring specialized skills. Thus, it can be practiced by a family member or a close friend to the elderly persons. They may include home care services and homemaker services. Maximization of an individual's quality life may, therefore, involve personal services that do not need unique prescriptions by medical personnel and homemakers’ services that do not need the guidance of a physician.
Conclusion
Summarily, aging is a crucial stage in the life of a human being. This implies that it should be considered normal despite the effects that it poses on one's life. Much of the changes brought by aging have been evident in vital body aspects such as physiology, functional, and sensory changes. This has further led to effects such as increased blood pressure, lack of clear vision, and strength to perform physical activities. The changes negatively impact the quality of life of the individual, leading to a downward spiral in terms of quality and increased interdependence. This further leads to an unsustainable health burden on both the individuals and the surrounding society. However, long-term care services targeting older people can help reduce the impacts of the changes in attempts to alleviate the quality of life of the elderly. This is because long-term elderly services address both medical and non-medical needs and also promotes individualized and coordinated services. Long-term elderly services are also critical in helping the well-being of the elderly through the providence of services that do not need the expertise to deliver.
References
Blackburn, J., Locher, J. L., & Kilgore, M. L. (2016). Comparison of long-term care in nursing homes versus home health: Costs and outcomes in Alabama, The Gerontologist , 56 (2); 215–221. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnu021
Jaul, E., & Barron, J. (2017). Age-Related Diseases and Clinical and Public Health Implications for the 85 Years Old and Over Population. Frontiers in Public Health , 5 , 335. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2017.00335.
Nigam, Y., Knight, J., Bhattacharya, S., & Bayer, A. (2012). Physiological changes associated with aging and immobility. Journal of Aging Research . 1-2. doi:10.1155/2012/468469 .
Tomas, T. M., Galan-Mercant, A., Carnero, A. E., & Fernandes, B. (2018). Functional capacity and levels of physical activity in aging: A 3-year follow-up. Frontiers in Medicine, 4 (244); 1-8.
