Impact of Modern Factors on the Health and Well-being of Elderly

This essay examines various factors influencing the health and lifestyle quality of elderly individuals in the modern world. It identifies key issues such as mobility limitations, sleep disturbances, social isolation, and poverty, and their direct impact on the physical and mental well-being of older adults. The essay discusses how these factors contribute to increased health risks, including chronic diseases and decreased life expectancy. Furthermore, it proposes potential solutions and interventions, such as promoting physical activity, improving sleep hygiene, fostering social interaction, and addressing financial instability, to enhance the health and overall quality of life for elderly people. The study emphasizes the importance of a holistic approach to elderly care, encompassing physical, psychological, and socioeconomic aspects, to ensure a healthier and more fulfilling life during their golden years. Desklib provides similar essays and resources for students.

Being healthy in the modern
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
Factors having direct influence on health of old people..................................................................3
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Health and ageing are two processes in a human being that progress simultaneously and
results in a lot of changes in the body which can be treated if diagnosed on time. The risk of
health complications increases with increase in age of a person as the elderly people have a weak
immune system, and they are more prone to different health related problems like cataract, chest
pain, diabetes, arthritis etc. which are caused due to various health related factors like sleep
disturbance, obesity, social isolation, as well as depression and chronic diseases (Afolalu,
Ramlee and Tang, 2018). All these factors directly affect the life expectancy of the elderly
people and results in health deterioration of people. This essay will illustrate about the factors
affecting the health and lifestyle quality of elderly people and will identify the appropriate
solutions that are required to improve the health quality and overcome the factors that have direct
role in affecting the mental and physical health of old people.
Factors having direct influence on health of old people
Maintaining a good health and remaining healthy is the main priority of elderly people so
that there immunity remains strong, and they are less prone to various health related risks like
chronic chest pain, heart attacks, osteoporosis and diabetes which results in premature death of
elderly people. In order to maintain society sustainability it is very important to maintain proper
healthy and hygienic environment around the old people. This will result in increasing life
expectancy and will further help to reduce health risks.
There are various age related factors which weakens the immune system of old people making
them more vulnerable to various heart diseases and continuously decrease life expectancy.
Mobility limitation
With increase in proportion of older people above the 80 years of age along with
deterioration in health is leading to mobility limitation (Appel et.al., 2020). Old people live in
private households and tend to spend more time inside homes as a result of this they are confined
to move in limited spaces and interact with restricted environment only. This results in rise in
many health risks like fragility of bones increases, less movement in muscular system and leads
to obesity which can result in increase heart problems. Many problems like muscle weakness,
inappropriate body posture are caused due to complete immobility which results in increasing the
chances of falling and other accidents like femur fractures leading to long term hospitalization

and stops the movement of other body parts due to bed rests (Campbell et.al., 2018). Many
physiological problems like paralysis of any body part is also a main reason for mobility
limitation which takes very long time to recover and old people don't put any efforts even to
move a single part of the body and long hours of sitting at one place disturbs the balance of the
body. In order to avoid this, healthy functioning of the musculoskeletal system old people should
follow a habitual routine of evening walks at least for half an hour so that there muscles
functions properly along with doing warm up activities of different body parts so that each body
muscle functions smoothly and will reduce the chance of paralysis. This will also make the
immune system stronger by improving digestion functions and increase the metabolic rates of the
old people. Limited mobility has negative effect on the cardio vascular system due to which the
heart rate is increased and results in lower venous return thus increasing the risk of heart attacks.
Walking daily is the integral part of the mobility which will help the old people maintain proper
blood pressure level along with this it will further maintain the overall bone calcium level and
will reduce the chances of fractures (Johnson, Rodriguez and Al Snih, 2020).
Sleep disturbance
Daily sleep of at least 7 hours is must for proper functioning of the body and staying
healthy. Disturbance in sleep is seen a lot in old people which deteriorates the overall physical
and psychological functions of the body and leads to anxiety, depression, increases stress level
and loss the capacity to memorize (Liao et.al., 2019). This results in less participation in daytime
activity because old people become more fatigue and loses the power of concentrating. Different
health risks arise due to lack of sleep like it results in hypertension due to which the blood
pressure of the body gets high leading to heart attack. Insomnia in older people also results in
neurological dysfunction due to which brain strokes can occur and lead to complete loss of
memory. Proper treatment of insomnia is very important for healthy brain activity. Around 23-
24% of older people have reported the problem sleeping disturbance and there are ways in which
this problem can be improved by different ways (Dzierzewski, Dautovich and Ravyts, 2018).
Medication is the most beneficial activity for the brain as it helps to release stress, maintains a
positive thought process which reduces the risk of neurological activities and old people feel
more relieved as their depression level drops thus improving their sleep cycles (Papadopoulos
et.al., 2022). Physical health complications like chest pain, joint pains are also responsible for
poor sleep habits which can be treated by proper medication procedure. Old people need to

indulge in more interacting activities like connecting to their neighbours and indulging in
exercises like walking, body warm-ups, breathing exercise ,relaxation techniques which will
reduce their stress level and changes their thought process. All these activities comes under
cognitive behavioural therapy which improves the sleeping patterns in older people.
Social isolation and exclusion
A good social interaction determines the overall health structure of old people both
mentally and physiologically. Since human beings are social creatures so it is very important for
older people to communicate in order to live long healthy lifestyle. Sometimes old people find
themselves alone excluded due to friends and family separation or retirement which results in
less social interaction with people around (Read, Comas-Herrera and Grundy, 2020). As a result
they are less involved in productive activities and this contributes in premature death of elderly
people. Other health disparities like depression, mental stress and anxiety are outcomes of social
isolation. Many physical health risks like obesity which is the major cause of heart attacks is
linked with isolation. Complete loss of social interaction leads to mental deterioration. Many
young people separate from their old parents are don't hold any responsibility of their well-being
so the parents are at risk of facing various health risks like developing unhealthy food habits
which lowers their immunity level and gains more weight. The most appropriate way to improve
this condition can be done by involving in meaningful and mood boosting productive activities
by old people so that they feel less isolated. Regulation of new government schemes like
providing fund to excluded old people who are left by their children so that they are able to
manage their daily expenses for improving their cognitive function.
Poverty
Many old people are not financially that stable to meet the requirements of their health
problems. The infrastructure is highly developed and has become more efficient in adopting new
technologies to treat various diseases like cancer, heart attacks, neurological problems etc. This
has led to increase in the prices of the treatments and the medication. Poor old people are not
able to afford the high cost prices of the prescribed medicine or any costly treatment like cancer
which needs a lot of money for the therapy process (Peres et.al., 2019). This in turn leads to
ignorance of health related problems and increases the chances of fatality in older people. Mostly
old people are unemployed or excluded by other family members, so they do not have any
income source to pay for the high prices of various treatments. Many poor old people are unable

to get their daily meals which is required for proper body functioning and as result they die of
hunger. In many families low income levels denies proper access to medical care and treatments.
Being poor is the major cause of any co-morbidity and to overcome this it is highly essential to
help improve the poverty levels by highly decreasing the cost price of medication for old people
who are not financially stable, government can also help decrease the poverty levels by
providing funds in treatments of high risk diseases like cancer in older people so that they can
take proper medication (Ridley and et.al., 2020). To deal with problems of receiving daily meals
many NGOs can provide free meal services to poor elder people. A good social support and
palliative services can also help overcome poverty. All these measures will improve the quality
of life in elder peoples and will definitely bring a good change in the golden years of their life.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded how the health related factors like sleep
disturbance, poverty, social isolation and exclusion plays a vital role maintaining a healthy life
style both mentally and physically in elderly people. Each factor has its own significance and
effect on life expectancy of the old age people who are at higher risk of adopting illness and
other health disparities like chronic diseases such as heart attack, cancer, cataract, depression etc.
sleep disturbance affect the overall health by leading rise in depression, stress which can alter
blood pressure levels. Inadequate mobility of different body parts induces fatigue which weakens
body muscles and increases chances of falling or injuries leading to paralysis. Low income level
or poor financial status of elderly also leads to rise in health co morbidities giving rise to hunger,
untreated illness like cancer, arthritis etc. They are unable to pay the high costs charged by the
hospitals. Appropriate measures to reduce the effects of these factors can be adopted in helping
and taking care of the needs of elderly people by cutting down the costs of treatments of cancer,
heart operations by giving them relaxation in prices of medication. A daily routine of walking,
meditating and exercising will also lead to increase the immunity power of the body.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Afolalu, E.F., Ramlee, F. and Tang, N.K., 2018. Effects of sleep changes on pain-related health
outcomes in the general population: a systematic review of longitudinal studies with
exploratory meta-analysis. Sleep medicine reviews. 39. pp.82-97.
Appel, L. and et.al., 2020. Older adults with cognitive and/or physical impairments can benefit
from immersive virtual reality experiences: a feasibility study. Frontiers in medicine. 6.
p.329.
Campbell, S and et.al., 2018. Heatwave and health impact research: A global review. Health &
place. 53. pp.210-218.
Dzierzewski, J.M., Dautovich, N. and Ravyts, S., 2018. Sleep and cognition in older
adults. Sleep Medicine Clinics. 13(1). pp.93-106.
Johnson, J., Rodriguez, M.A. and Al Snih, S., 2020. Life-space mobility in the elderly: current
perspectives. Clinical interventions in aging. 15. p.1665.
Liao, C.D. and et.al., 2019. The role of muscle mass gain following protein supplementation plus
exercise therapy in older adults with sarcopenia and frailty risks: a systematic review
and meta-regression analysis of randomized trials. Nutrients. 11(8). p.1713.
Papadopoulos, D and et.al., 2022. Sleep disturbances are mediators between socioeconomic
status and health: A scoping review. International Journal of Mental Health and
Addiction. 20(1). pp.480-504.
Peres, M.A. and et.al., 2019. Oral diseases: a global public health challenge. The
Lancet. 394(10194). pp.249-260.
Read, S., Comas-Herrera, A. and Grundy, E., 2020. Social isolation and memory decline in later-
life. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B. 75(2). pp.367-376.
Ridley, M and et.al., 2020. Poverty, depression, and anxiety: Causal evidence and
mechanisms. Science. 370(6522). p.eaay0214.