Primary Health Care for Older People

This article discusses primary health care provision for older people, focusing on patient-centered care and prevention of diseases. It explores various models of care delivery and the role of government in ensuring quality care for the elderly. The article emphasizes the importance of resources and redistribution in achieving universal primary health care.

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PRIMARY HEALTH CARE FOR OLDER PEOPLE
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Primary health care is the day to day health care made available to all individuals in the
society by a health care provider. According to Langford, Higgs & Fry (2016), it refers to
essential health care that is universally acceptable and accessible to individuals who seek health
care services. It is centered on the wellbeing of individuals and community as a whole. Primary
health care for all individuals is governed by five important principles. These principles are
providing care that is promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and supportive. Primary
health provision for the older population is gaining a lot of attention in the world today.
Since the elderly form an important part of the society and community in general, their
health care is of importance. Geriatric medical centers are developing over time in an attempt to
ensure that the older people medical needs are met with the utmost specialty and attention.
Primary health care for the older people is taking shape and the focus revolves around providing
a patient-centered approach rather than the traditional provider centric care provision (Cavan et
al, 2018). It is focused on health promotion and ensuring prevention of diseases as opposed to
only managing a particular medical condition. The aim of this discussion is to explain primary
health care provision to older people and analyze various models of care delivery to the elderly.
The elderly require intensive care that is structured according to their special needs. Old
people tend to have special needs and their care plan cannot be the same as that of the rest of the
population as they do not have the same energy as young people (Smolowitz et al, 2015). There
are also some medical conditions linked to old age and these conditions include hypertension,
diabetes and cardiac related conditions such as myocardial infarction and coronary artery
disease.
The manner in which care is provided should always be patient dependent. The patient
should always be the center of care and care provision should always follow the needs of the

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health seeker (Gilday et al, 2018). Primary health care encourages patient participation in
decision making as far as their health is concerned. Care provision to the older people should
always be easily accessible whenever needed. The health care provider should always be near to
the patient and the patient should not have to travel long distances to seek health services as it
discourages health seeking behavior especially among the elderly.
There are several systems and models set in place to care for the health care needs of the
older people. The user pays system for example is an effective system that works in the manner
that one receives health care services that they pay for. Aged care is over time adapting to this
system. Since most elderly people are retired and therefore do not have a source of income, the
families of these people chip in to ensure that their care is provided in the best way possible
using this system.
The user pays system functions in that people only gain access to the services that they
can afford and these services are tailored in accordance to their preference. This is opposed to the
general health care provision whereby the elderly mainly rely on government subsidies so as to
access quality health care. The public health care sector ensures that health care is provided to
the older people regardless of their condition as the government subsidizes the cost of care. The
universal primary health care aims at ensuring that all individuals and families in the community
gain access to unlimited health care provision regardless of the affordability of the services
(Wakerman, 2018). The social capital approach is being applied in the care for the old
people. It focusses on bringing financial resources together in the community to ensure that
the elderly are well taken care of. Formation of social clubs and associations within a
community have helped raise funds for the care of the elderly hence aiding in universal
primary health care achievement.

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In the sustainable development goals, good health and well-being is the third goal. For
this goal to be achieved, there must be an increase in health delivery centers as well as access
points. An increase in the number of health care providers is of importance to ensure that patients
as well as health seekers are attended to in the most efficient manner. There is a considerable
increase in the number of old people aged 65 years and above in the world today. As stated by
Das et al. (2016), this can be attributed to better self-health care and increased health seeking
behavior by individuals. So as to increase life expectancy and reduce the mortality rate for the
aged population, there is need to increase geriatric centers and nursing homes that cater for the
aged medical and health care needs.
Health promotion is considered as one of the main principles of primary health care. It
revolves around ensuring that people who seek medical attention are encouraged to seek healthy
behavior and promote their own health to achieve better outcomes. Promotion of health so as to
maintain good health is of importance in the elderly. Encouraging good diet that is balanced and
increasing fruit and vegetable intake among the elderly is a health promoting behavior and is an
important aspect in primary health care (Jakimovska et al, 2017).
Prevention of diseases and infection rather than having to cure them is an important
strategy that primary health care aims at achieving. The elderly are prone to a wide range of
infections since their immunity levels tend to be lower compared to the young energetic
population. Encouraging preventative measures among the elderly is therefore important.
Conditions like hypertension and diabetes are associated with old age. Encouraging low intake of
sodium is an important preventative measure to reduce the risk of contracting hypertensive and
other heart related conditions among the elderly (Schut & Varkevisser, 2017). Diabetes can also
be prevented by cutting off high sugar level intake and encouraging exercises. Primary health

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care among the old people therefore aims at encouraging self-care in an attempt to reduce risk of
infection.
There are various factors that affect health provision among the old people. One major
factor is the laws and regulations set by the government as far their health care is concerned.
Government involvement in the care of the older people is of importance in enhancing proper
primary care. The cost of care for the elderly in hospitals and public health centers is subsided
with the involvement of government hence ensuring that more old people can access care at a
cost friendly rate or none at all. The laws set regulate the way that services are also offered in a
care facility. For example the conduct of the care provider should align to the set rules in that
they should be professional and treat their patients with the highest dignity no matter the age.
Health care providers are self-regulated by practitioner’s board and should always follow the
stipulated rules and laws that govern their practice (Uzochukwu et al, 2015).
The establishment of more retirement and nursing homes by the government has helped
achieve primary health care for the elderly. This is because in these homes, the care provider is
always available to tend to the needs of the elderly. Since the elderly due to old age may not be
in a capability to move around and travelling to seek care provision, the establishment of nursing
homes enables them to receive this care promptly enough and whenever in need as the they live
with the care provider (Hobbs et al, 2016). The environment also created by these nursing homes
is favorable as the old aged get to interact with other peers suffering from similar conditions
hence enabling moral support among themselves. Retirement homes assist the old people to gain
access to skills that better their productivity. They get to utilize their skills such as weaving
which may enable them earn income and be productive in addition to their care provision.

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In the primary health care plan, resources are mainly redistributed rather than new
resources allocated. The redistribution of existing resources is of importance as healthcare
resources just like any other resource are scarce. The availability of healthcare providers is still
low and since they represent the human resource, they have to be evenly distributed to cater for
the needs of the old and young within the country. Even distribution of hospitals and care centers
is of importance as it ensures the old people countrywide obtain health care with minimal effort
(Myrhaug, Jahnsen & Østensjø, 2016).
Health care delivery systems are also of importance when it comes to the care of the old
people. Health care for the elderly can be delivered directly to their homes since they are not
energetic enough to travel and look for facilities. The delivery of old age friendly equipment
such walking aids is of importance to ensure that the needs of the elderly are met. Since the
practitioner exists for the patient and not the opposite, it is of importance for the health care
provider to be always available for the old person as they might need a lot of assistance as
compared to the rest of the population.
In conclusion, primary health care provision is of essence in order to ensure a healthy
population. It is the responsibility of every single individual to have a healthy seeking behavior.
Care provision for the older people ensures continuity of the society as they form an integral part
of the population. According to Challis et al. (2018), good primary care among the old people
enhances their life expectancy because it ensures protection against infections and other life
threatening conditions. The involvement of the government is of importance in ensuring care
among the elderly and should be encouraged.

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