Health Assessment and Ageing Perception of an Older Adult

Poornima Diwakaran c3253670
Introduction
Old age is neither a burden to the society nor the reason for the low ability of a person to
contribute to the community. Older peoples are capable enough to make a valuable and essential
contribution to society. Therefore, the primary aim of the study is to create a health assessment
of older adults and gather information regarding ageing perception. The paper highlights the
issue identified by the evaluation and related to the concept of healthy ageing. The document
outlines the life history of an older person, explains his ageing perception and his health issue
based on interviews. Further, the paper has critically evaluated the case concerning healthy
ageing concepts. Major problems and goals were identified accordingly, and nursing intervention
with rationale was reflected in the paper.
Narrative summary: The Life history of the older person
Mr Jack is an 80-year-old man living in the outskirts of Melbourne city in Australia. He
was a government employee and got retired 20 years ago. He is living with his wife. He was
addicted to alcohol and tobacco in his earlier life. He has two daughters who live with their
husbands away from the city. Both husband and wife reside in their own home. Their daughter
rarely visits and pays no attention to his health. Mr Jack does not get any benefit from the
government and he and his wife are entirely dependent on house rent for their living. Mr Jack
always faces a financial crisis due to which he is not able to get quality treatment for his health
issues. With due time his health became deteriorated, and soon he was unable to walk and do his
daily living activities.
Mr Jack has a medical history of hypertension and high cholesterol. He was a non-
diabetic person who was severely addicted to alcohol, which damaged his liver functioning. He
was admitted to hospital last year for liver dysfunction where he was operated for hepatic
0

Poornima Diwakaran c3253670
resection. Though he got recovered, he is facing much psychological distress, which has
deteriorated his quality of life. He used to forget things quickly. He has mild dementia and is
unable to perform daily living activities. He has clear eyesight and hearing ability. The current
medications for Mr Jack are Lisinopril, Lovastatin and Donepezil.
Mr Jack is 60 kgs and 162 cm height. His blood pressure and blood glucose level are
120/90 and 110mg/dl. Therefore, he has a BMI of 22.9 which is in the normal range.
Summary of older person's view of ageing
As per the Age Perception Tool, Mr Jack was investigated via the questions related to
health and ageing. From the interview, it can be said that he has a personal view that ageing is
the primary reason for ill health, and it is the time where one has to spend more time alone. Mr
Jack’s old age is the key factor for having a low quality of life. He agrees that older people are
more respected because of weak health and sympathy. He never expected to continue doing
things that he used to do earlier. He is of the perception that ageing leads to all the unfortunate
situations that can happen in life. He has regarded himself as an older man who cannot do any
activities on his own. He is anxious about getting old because his physical health is diminishing.
He thinks that his sleeping issue, back problem, immobility, tremor, weakness and cramps are
because of old age. The primary reason for having such perception is ignorance and lack of care
from his daughters and his financial crisis.
Summary of initial health screening
The initial health assessment tool has provided all the relevant information about the
health of Mr Jack. He is a non-smoker, but he was addicted to alcohol in his earlier life. Based on
the interview related to the aspect of health, it is seen that Mr Jack was unable to receive any
1

Poornima Diwakaran c3253670
medical assistance due to his financial crisis and has to deal with his health issue with the help of
his wife. Sometimes, in a health emergency, he gets support from his neighbour, who sends him
to the hospital and provides medical assistance. Mr Jack has to continued pain in his back and leg
due to which he is not able to do any physical exercise and cannot perform his daily living
activities. He has to depend on his wife all the time, and he cannot get assisted with community
service because of economic issues. His diminishing health is affecting his psychological outlook
and is leading to depression, irritation, and he often shouts out of anxiety. Old age stress always
persists in Mr Jack due to which he has experienced anxiety in the last four weeks. He had a
well-functioning digestion mechanism making his bowel healthy. Mr Jack forgets things and
does not remember the activities he has done in the day. He was at the starting stage of dementia.
Mr Jack explained that he was experiencing having imbalance walk due to which he has
fallen and now has severe back pain and injury. Based on nutritional assessment, his daily intake
of food is less and he has a problem with eating and swallowing food. In the last six weeks, his
weight got decreased by 10 kg. His posture has become fragile and weak with low appetite.
Based on Katz tool analyses, his Katz score was less than 6, which indicates that he is
very depended on someone to do ADLs. All such prevalence has resulted in cognitive
impairment facing dementia and depression.
Evaluation of a person in relation to healthy ageing
Healthy ageing is the process of development of functional ability that promotes the well-
being of older people (Cunti & Bellantonio, 2018). It is evident from the literature that healthy
ageing does not mean to be free of disease rather, acquiring healthy habits, staying connected
2

Poornima Diwakaran c3253670
with the society and using health services can help to create healthy and meaningful life
(Kaeberlein, Rabinovitch & Martin, 2015).
Healthy ageing includes older adults can meeting their basic needs, to be mobile and
contribute to society. The concept of healthy ageing is a contradiction in the case of Mr Jack and
shows that he is not heading towards healthy ageing. He is unable to perform his daily living
activities and faces psychological distress due to his miserable life. Mr Jack's perception
regarding old age is against the concept of healthy ageing. He thinks that because of old age, he
is unable to do any activity which he used to perform in earlier life. He has regarded old age as
the reason for the prevalence of the disease. Healthy ageing focuses on having the mental ability
to contribute to society (McElhaney et al., 2019). However, Mr Jack’s health condition has left
him distressed with a weak appetite. Healthy ageing aims to provide health services, but Mr Jack
is unable to receive any such service. The analyses highlight that Mr Jack is not heading forward
to healthy ageing; instead, he is facing issues and problems that need to be taken into
consideration.
Area of concern
From the discussion related to initial health assessment and healthy ageing, it can be said
that the significant area of interest is an issue of psychological distress, which is making him
cognitive impaired. He does not involve himself in any social activities. His ageing perception
has deteriorated his living ability. He thinks that all the physical problems are related to ageing.
His understanding is contracting the concept of healthy ageing, which proves that he is not
ageing in a healthy way. (Paddon-Jones et al., 2015). It is ageing because of which causes him to
not be able to perform those activities which he used to play in earlier life. He thinks that old age
has made him dependent on his wife. Thus, the existing mentality regarding old age has left him
3