NSG3PHN Essay: Gerontological Nursing in Primary Healthcare (PHC)

This essay explores the role of gerontological nursing within the framework of primary health care (PHC). It begins by defining the key features of this nursing role, which involves caring for the health issues of older adults, including making decisions about life-prolonging treatments. The essay distinguishes between primary care and primary healthcare, emphasizing the broader scope of the latter. It then establishes gerontological nursing as a PHC nursing role, focusing on holistic care and care coordination for elderly patients. The essay identifies dementia as a common health issue among this client group and discusses the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, outlining five strategies: reorienting health services, developing personal skills, strengthening community actions, creating supportive environments, and building healthy public policy. The essay details how these strategies can be applied to address dementia, including actions such as empowering individuals, advocating for policy changes, fostering community engagement, and reorienting health services to better support older adults. The essay uses multiple academic sources to support its claims.

Primary Health care Nursing
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Introduction
The fundamental purpose of the paper is to select primary health care (PHC) nursing role and
explain the common features of the role. The paper will also identify health issues that are
associated with the client group who are taken care of by PHC nurse. It will determine the
strategy introduced by the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion that will help in addressing the
health issue.
Description of key features of primary healthcare nursing role (PHN's)
The nursing role that has been selected is gerontological nursing, where the nurses deal with the
health problems of older adults and suggest different ways to manage their health in a better way.
The nurses are responsible for making decisions regarding when the life-prolonging treatments
should be given (Bleijenberg, Boeije, Onderwater & Schuurmans, 2015). The nurses involved in
gerontological fieldwork in arrangement with older adults, communities, households to assure a
better quality of life, fit ageing and better functionality. In order to do this, they are required to
monitor and observe the patients by recording certain adequate information that helps in making
appropriate decisions for treatment.
Difference among primary care and primary healthcare
Primary care is mainly used to demonstrate the family practice and primary medical care. While
primary health care is a huge concept that encompasses a wider range of goals, functions,
services and providers. In the Australian context, primary care is determined to be the first point
of entry within the health setting as per the client's perspective. The providers of primary care are
focused on effective and timely treatment and early diagnosis. Whereas, primary health care
mainly focuses on referring, managing and identifying health problems through early
interventions in a preventive manner.
Gerontological role can be regarded as Primary Health Care nursing role
Gerontological nursing role is determined to be a primary healthcare nursing role as based on the
aspects of primary healthcare; the nurses have to fulfil the demands and needs of complex older
adults. The nurses make efficient use of care coordination and a holistic approach to providing

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primary and practical care to older adults (Bryant‐Lukosius et al., 2016). The role of the geriatric
nurse is to help elderly patients to recover from injury or illness by developing patient care plans
which are significant in primary healthcare.
Characteristics of PHN's likely client group
Gerontological nurses are responsible for providing care and appropriate treatment to older
adults who face severe health issues. Hence, older adults are determined to be the likely client
group of gerontological nurses in primary healthcare nursing. Some of the characteristics of this
particular client group are age-related changes like depression, illness, loneliness, financial
difficulties, and suffering from chronic diseases (Morilla-Herrera et al., 2016). The most
significant characteristic of the older adult is an advanced illness condition that creates a negative
impact on their health.
Identification of one common health issue of the client group
The most common issue faced by older adults is dementia which is determined to be a cognitive
health issue where the older adult deals with the loss of cognitive functions. This issue has been
chosen as 47.5million people across the world is facing this severe issue, and it is predicted that
it will be increased by 2050 (Fougère et al., 2016). Alzheimer's disease is regarded as the
common type of dementia, as approximately 5 million people more than 65 years of age are
suffering from this particular disease. Due to this issue, there occurs an increased risk of
depression, hypertension and substance use.
Explanation of five strategies in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion
The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion is regarded as a name a global contract that was signed
in November 1986 at the First International Conference on Health Promotion which was held in
Ottawa, Canada by the World Health Organization. It introduced a series by five strategies of
actions are as follows:
Reorient health services
This strategy reveals the fact that the role of health setting must proceed towards increasing
health promotion route that is beyond its accountability for serving curative and healthcare

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services. It needs great attention to changing professional training and education and health
research (Smolowitz et al., 2015). It reveals the fact that nurses play a significant role in
enhancing inter-sectoral coordination among educational, community and health sector
associated with a health issue.
Develop personal skills
This strategy allows individuals to learn how to prepare themselves to manage injuries and
severe sickness. This must be provided in community settings, work, home and school. The
nurses must take actions by partnering with groups and individuals by mobilizing the resources
to empower them and promote health (Bodenheimer & Bauer, 2016).
Strengthen community actions
This particular strategy pays attention to community development based on physical and human
possessions that improve social provision and self-help. It also focuses on the direction of health
matters and creates adequate systems for strengthening public participation (Freund et al., 2015).
This requirements enhances full contact to learning prospects and information for funding
support as well as health.
Create supportive environments
The strategy focuses on the prevention of usual environments, along with the preservation of
natural resources that need to be overcome in any health promotion strategy. It aims to create a
supportive environment that includes preventing individuals from health-related problems and
guiding them to develop self-reliance and improving their abilities in health (Thompson, Watson
& Tilford, 2018). To generate supportive-environments through community partnerships, there is
a need to generate supportive-environments.
Build healthy public policy
It states that policy related to health promotion is conjoined complementary and diverse tactics
that involves organizational change, taxation, economic measures and lawmaking. The policy
based on health promotion needs recognition of problems to implement policies related to
healthy public and different ways to eliminate them. Ottawa Charter helps the health

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professionals to understand that health must be on the agenda of governmental levels and varied
health sectors (Fry & Zask, 2016).
Health promotion action based on Developing Personal Skills' strategy for prevention of
the health issue
For preventing the health issue of dementia which is a cognitive health issue, the nurses
implement this strategy by empowering themselves to manage injuries and chronic illness
experienced by older adults. The gerontological nurse must enhance individual empowerment by
helping elderly patients in controlling their life and making relevant decisions. In order to
promote health actions, the PHC nurse must act as a catalyst like facilitating access to skill
development and health information by supporting availability to political aspects.
Health promotion action based on Building Healthy Public Policy' strategy for prevention
of the health issue
The gerontological nurse must advocate on behalf of the communities and individuals to promote
public policy. While adopting the public healthcare policies, the PHC nurse must identify the
issues of older adults who face dementia (Wilberg, Saboga-Nunes & Stock, 2019). The nurse
must participate in health-systems and framing health-policy to promote advocacy for elderly
patients. Such actions must be taken by the nurse to support older adults with dementia to create
a healthy living environment. Their aim must be to make an easier choice along with healthier
choice.
Health promotion action based on ‘Creating Supportive Environment' strategy for
prevention of the health issue
The gerontological nurses play a crucial role in promoting interaction among local government
and older people to identify strategies and exchange ideas, thoughts and information. Based on
this strategy, the PHC nurse must take appropriate actions to prevent societies, communities and
individuals. It must enhance empowerment to have control over the decisions that affect older
people health (Banerjee, Strachan, Boyle, Anand & Oremus, 2015). They must promote the
health of older adults to deal with dementia by strengthening physical environments and basic
life-skills that influences their health.

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Health promotion action based on ‘Strengthening Community Action' strategy for
prevention of the health issue
In order to deal with the health issue of dementia experienced by older adults, the gerontological
nurse must take actions by involving in community empowerment that will help in improving
quality of older adult's life and control over cognitive health issues. They must develop
mechanisms for older adults to support them to make effective decisions (Wosinski, Cordier,
Bachmann, Gagnon & Kiszio, 2016). The nurse must motivate elderly patients to recognize
relevant strategies and needs to eliminate the issues related to dementia.
Health promotion action based on ‘Reorientation of Health Services' strategy for
prevention of the health issue
In order to re-orient health-services for elderly patients who are suffering from dementia, the
gerontological nurse must take actions to bring changes in professional education and increase
health research (Fry et al., 2016). This strategy may be used by PHC nurse to create supportive
environments that include advocacy and strengthening the relationship of building a healthy
public policy with societal and environmental aspects.
Conclusion
The paper demonstrated an understanding of the role of gerontological nursing that provides
quality care to elderly patients. It has been observed that the most common issue faced by older
adults is dementia that can be addressed by nurses by taking appropriate actions introduced by
Ottawa Charter. However, the actions will help gerontological (PHC) nurse to evaluate, plan and
adopt health promotional activities for older adults.

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