Health and socio-political issues in aged-care

Running Head: HEALTHCARE
0
Health and socio-political issues in aged-
care
5/23/2019

HEALTHCARE
1
Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................... 2
Palliative care provision or palliative approach in residential aged care......................................2
Advanced care directives in residential aged care.................................................................4
Issues in contemporary-aged care from political, philosophical, legal and ethical positions.............5
Strategies to improve palliative care service provision in residential aged care.............................7
Conclusion................................................................................................................ 8
References................................................................................................................ 9

HEALTHCARE
2
Introduction
The report brings about the discussion on the current issues faced in the palliative care
to the individuals living in residents or aged-care facilities. It has been found through
research that palliative care has been included to reduce the admissions of the residents.
Here, in this context the palliative care is provided to ensure symptom control, relief from the
pain due to their illness. To define or state the meaning of the term, palliative care, it is
defined as specialized medical care that focuses on critical illness. In addition, the discussion
will include the assessment of two directives within residential aged-care. Several
contemporary care issues from the perspective of political, philosophical, legal, and ethical
positions will be mentioned. The discussion will determine the key strategies or models,
which leads to improved palliative care of the agents in residential care (Chen et al., 2015).
These strategies or models will include models of wellness, user-pays, and concept of active
ageing. The concept of advanced care planning will also be mentioned in the essay, and
palliative care focuses on the care given at home, not in private nursing homes or hospitals.
Thus, readers will gain an understanding of the palliative care provided to the people in
residential aged care.
Palliative care provision or palliative approach in residential aged care
It is defined as specialized medical care for the people living with any mental illness,
and it focuses on providing relief to the patient from the pain and symptoms of the illness.
Here, in the palliative care the goal is to provide the care, ensuring the improvement in the
life of both, patient and their support members. The approach of end-of-life care or palliative
care is applicable or suitable for the individuals or patients who have less than 6 month
period, to live. Residential care is referred to the care for old-aged people, i.e. people who
cannot stay at their home for longer period. In context to the residential aged-care, the
services provide support to the patients, that range from the daily activities to the personal
care to the 24-hour nursing care.
This form of specialized medical care is provided by the clinical nurse, health
experts, and other professionals who work in collaboration to deliver care services. End of
life care constitutes the aspect of palliative care, and helps the person to manage or cope with

HEALTHCARE
3
their pain and distressing symptoms. These symptoms or illness may include cancer, COPD,
kidney failure, or the disorders such as Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s (Dalal & Bruera, 2017).
In Australia in the year 2014-15, a high proportion of the males than females (4.7%
and 3.6%) were appraised as they obtained palliative care. It has been found that Victoria
Government provides support through providing contribution in terms of funds, and high
quality health care within public sector residential aged care. It also aims at providing the
psychological, spiritual support to the client for their life-limiting illness (Van Malderen et
al., 2016). Effective palliative care provision is provided to old-aged person in residential
aged-care by providing residents with an option to die in friendly and comfortable
surroundings in context to the residential environment (Chadwick et al., 2016).
The residential environment includes people with whom the patient is familiar, or
who has been a part of their daily life. The aspect of active ageing care or aged-care has been
also linked to the palliative care to the older people in residents. Active ageing objects at
improving the life expectancy of the older aged people, and quality of life with the age
(Payne et al., 2017).
The policy framework of active ageing aims to promote healthy and active ageing,
developed by the programme of WHO Ageing, and Life course. From the study, it has been
found that residential aged care the residents will be the last home for the patients. Therefore,
palliative care and end of life forms an integral part of planning their care needs (Chen et al.,
2015).
It has been found that 47% of the population with any terminal sickness die in the
residents or nursing homes therefore; there is a growing need of the care in the nursing
homes. The hospitals have changed their preference towards providing continuum care to the
older patients in order to attain positive results in terms of increased capability to cope with
the illness and improve quality of life. However, provision and administration of the
palliative care in context to the residential aged care often becomes complex because the
people or residents in large proportion has complex care needs (Fernández-Sola et al.,
2017). For an instance, the administration of the care to older people is often difficult in the
cases of mental health issues such as dementia or those who have communication issues.
This can be managed effectively with the collaboration and efforts of multidisciplinary team
in the health care. Thus, from the above discussion the importance and application of