NUR104: Assessment Task 2 Workbook - Aging and Healthcare Challenges

This assignment is a workbook for a nursing course (NUR104) focusing on aging and healthcare. The student addresses several key topics related to the care of older adults. The assignment begins with a discussion of the advantages and challenges of older people living at home, followed by an exploration of the My Aged Care website and how older individuals can access services through it. The student then identifies an organization (COTA Australia) and discusses its role in supporting and protecting older people. The assignment also covers the University of the Third Age (U3A) and its impact on the psychological health of older adults. Additionally, it examines age-related changes that increase the risk of urinary tract infections (UTIs) and the strategies nurses can use to address them. The student also reflects on the Safe Environments game and what was learned about assessing risks and hazards. Finally, the assignment addresses ageism in healthcare services, providing strategies to overcome this challenge. The student provides references to support their responses throughout the workbook.

NUR104 Assessment Task 2: Workbook 40%
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1. The majority of older Australian’s continue to live in their own homes, with or without support.
Discuss 2 advantages and 2 challenges of older people remaining in their own home. (200 words)
/5 marks
Advantages
Comfort: Older Australian who lives in their homes can have familiar surroundings which
will form a positive sense of affection. They might be more conformable compared to the
nursing homes. Home can be an ideal location to live out their later years with the
remembrances surrounding them without any interferes.
Cost: living in nursing home or seeking support from public health workers like nurses
might be costly for older people. A little support can be brought to them at home easily at
low cost (Szanton et al., 2016).
Challenges
Safety: living in a home without any support can be unfavorable for older Australian as
they might experience some potential safety problems like fall. Older adults who are
suffering from any health issues like CVD, diabetes finds it might face issues where they
need emergency support. For example in acute or chronic heart failure the patient requires
immediate support which becomes difficult when they live in their home without any
support.
Isolation: Elders might be isolated from the outer world as it is difficult for them to move
and perform activities at this age. This might enhance the chances of developing other

psychological issues like depression (Ross, Schrag & Pond, 2016).
Szanton, S. L., Leff, B., Wolff, J. L., Roberts, L., & Gitlin, L. N. (2016). Home-based care
program reduces disability and promotes aging in place. Health Affairs, 35(9),
1558-1563.
Ross, D. L., Schrag, W. F., & Pond, P. (2016). The pros and cons of home vs. in-center
dialysis in the elderly. In Dialysis in Older Adults (pp. 29-44). Springer, New York,
NY.
2. The My Aged Care website https://www.myagedcare.gov.au/ is a central repository for
information about aged care services in Australia. Discuss how an older person can get
assessed through My Aged Care to get the services they need. (200 words)
/5 marks
My aged care website is the Australian government’s initiative which helps the aged
people in their aged care journey, where they can find access to the services provided by
government. First of all they have to learn about what type of services they need form the
website by visiting the page and clicking on start here page. Once they identified what
services they require to find out their eligibility, which is the two step assessment task that
knows what services can help the person. In the first step to get the access to the available
services the elders need to the contact my aged care, and have a discussion with the center
staff about the face to face assessment. After the call the elder might be scheduled for face
to face assessment which is done at home. Once the face to face interview is done they
elder will find whether he or she is eligible for the services or not. The elder will be
notified by a call or directly. Older individual can also apply for the reassessment which is
based in the previous assessment, however the situation can be different not (Myagedcafre,
2019).
Myagedcafre (2019). Access Australian aged care information and services. Retrieved

from: https://www.myagedcare.gov.au/
3. Identify one organization applicable to the older person and discuss how it informs the support
and protection of older people in Australia. (200 words)
/5 marks
COTA Australia plays a key role in promoting, improving and protecting the wellbeing of
older people as Australian citizens and consumers. It is the government, general
community, and media recognized organization which represents, advocates for and serves
all the older people of Australia. They speaks to the national government ministers and
advisers, and other difference concerned parties at the most higher levels of public services
regarding the issues older people are facing. COTA Australia is presently focusing
specifically on older care reform that deliver the individual with best choice and control
regarding their retirement income policy, and enhance the health services, though always
dealing with ageism and age related discrimination. They have different branches across
Australian regions (COTA, 2019). One of the branches of COTA, COTA SA is the peak
body, for around 633000 elders in South Australia. They provide the elder with the
platform to make that they are included in the decision making by the government and
other organization on income, housing, health, and employment. The organization also
provided the information about the services being provided by government and non-
government organization for elders, which can be accessed by visiting the COTA website
(Kendig, Gong & Cannon, 2018).
COTA (2019). For older Australia. Retrieved from: https://www.cota.org.au/
Kendig, H., Gong, C., & Cannon, L. (2018). Implementing age-friendly cities in
Australia. Age-friendly cities and communities: A global perspective, 167.
4. What is University of Third Age (U3A)? [Page 14 + research]. How would attending a meaningful

activity, such as the University of the Third age (U3A), enhance the psychological health of older
adults? (200 words)
/5 marks
University of third age is the international movement which aims for education and
stimulation of specifically retired people of the community, or those who are in third age of
their life. U3A was started in 1984, in Melbourne, and currently about 300 U3As are there
in Australia. There are different programs are being provided across the globe for older
people. These meaningful activities can promote the advantages of learning in the later life
of older people by self-help learning. Membership of these activities can help the elder to
get the access to full time employment which quite difficult for them to get. Members of
these services provided with the range of topics and activities as they required, there is not
specific qualification is needed to be the members and to access the services (U3A
Australia, 2019). These activities provided the elder an opportunity to encounter ad make
new friends who have mutual interest or lifestyle, which directly help them to learn
specific skills or enjoy haring their knowledge with other people. These services can help
them to learn about arts, history, literature, crafts, gardening, photography, and computer
and digital technology skills. These skills can help them feel confident and mentally strong
(Lamb, 2019).
U3A Australia (2019). U3A alliance Australia. Retrieved from: http://www.u3aaa.org/
Lamb, A. (2019). The University of the Third Age Movement in Australia: From Statewide
Networking to Community Engagement. In The University of the Third Age and
Active Ageing (pp. 145-155). Springer, Cham.
5. What age-related changes contribute to increased risk of urinary tract infection (UTI)? What
strategies can the nurse use to assess, prevent and manage UTI? (200 words)
/5 marks

The UTI risk upsurges with age. It has been identified by researchers that more than one-
third of all the infections in individuals in nursing homes are urinary tract infections. More
than ten per cent of females over the age of 65 years report having the UTI in previous
years. That number upsurges to nearly 30 per cent in females over 85. Conditions common
in elders might results in urinary tract retention; this might increase the risk of developing
urinary tract infection. These health conditions are Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s, and
different types of diabetes. Females after menopause are at high risk of developing UTIs
due to the estrogen deficiency. Estrogen might help in protecting the vagina and urethra
from the high growth of E. coli (Kline & Bowdish, 2016). Once the estrogen levels are
decreased during menopause, the micro-organism take over and start infecting the
individual. Older persons are at great risk of developing UTIs for several reasons. One of
the main cause is the immune system which is weakens with the age that upsurges
susceptibility to any contamination. Also, the older people might have a reduced capability
to take care of themselves. Abridged cognitive capabilities and lower energy levels are
problems that cause diminished hygiene and augmented bacteria in older adults too (Le
Saux et al., 2017).
Kline, K. A., & Bowdish, D. M. (2016). Infection in an aging population. Current opinion
in microbiology, 29, 63-67.
Le Saux, O., Watelet, S., Haution-Bitker, M., Murard-Reeman, F., Lecardonnel, C.,
Harchaoui, M., & Falandry, C. (2017). 2 Physiologic Changes of Aging. Handbook
of Geriatric Oncology.
6. The Safe Environments game was used in the week 6 learning materials. What did you
learn about assessing for risks and hazards by interacting with this game? (200 words)
/5 marks
This particular game helped me to learn Challenge my hazard assessment and risk recording

skills. The game is developed in teamwork with leading specialists in healthiness and safety,
Safe Environments is the pleasing and operational way to train the aged and incapacity care
workforce. It helped me to learn safely by walking into the elaborately detailed scenarios
and challenging hazardous components in the environment. Some of the features of this
game that can be highly effective in assessing the risk and hazards include realistic
simulation, photo visualization of certain hazards like slips, trips, falls, mobility, electrical
and burns, poison, hygiene, manual handling, communication, perceptual, and behavioral
hazards (AppleStore, 2019). The game is scenario based around the requirements of clients
such as old age, dementia, depression, and schizophrenia. The activities like intelligent
hazard spawning ensures that every practices and assessment tasks are new and, specific
and identification. It also helped me to better understand the general health and safety
awareness by showing tutorials about how to use the system. The leader board feature of
this game help users opt an registered organization to compete against each other top
evaluate the best biosecurity champion (Agedcareinsite, 2016).
AppleStore(2019). Safe environment. Retrieved from: https://apps.apple.com/au/app/safe-
environments/id1156325485
Agedcareinsite (2016). Gaming to keep people safe part of the future of healthcare.
Retrieved from: https://www.agedcareinsite.com.au/2016/09/gaming-to-keep-
people-safe-part-of-the-future-of-healthcare/
7. What is Ageism? Discuss ageism in the context of health care services using current literature to
support your response. Identify strategies that could be enacted to overcome this challenge. (200
words)
/5 marks
Ageism is the categorizing, partiality, and discrimination against individuals on the basis of
their age. Ageism is prevalent and an underhand activity which has harmful impacts on the

older adult’s health. They are ignored for employment, limited from social facilities and
labeled in the media; ageism marginalizes and eliminates older individuals in their
societies. Older individuals tend to be labeled as a homogenous crowd characterized by
passivity, deteriorating physical and psychological health and dependence (Calasanti &
King, 2017). Such opinions are noticeable in society usually, but also among the health and
societal care specialists, who might have more recurrent contact with elder users with
multifaceted health needs. There are different strategies that can be used to address the
challenges include making a policy that should include strict action against the age related
discrimination, assessing the situation, and informal warning to the individual involved in
ageism. Training must be provided to the elder to speak up against the ageism in the health
care services, and to stay mentally and physically active that can help them to overcome
ageism effectively. Proper assessment and evaluation must be done in any healthcare
services like healthcare facility (Levy & Macdonald, 2016).
Calasanti, T., & King, N. (2017). Successful aging, ageism, and the maintenance of age
and gender relations. Successful Aging as a Contemporary Obsession: Global
Perspectives, 27-40.
Levy, S. R., & Macdonald, J. L. (2016). Progress on understanding ageism. Journal of
Social Issues, 72(1), 5-25.
Reference List
References
Agedcareinsite (2016). Gaming to keep people safe part of the future of healthcare.
Retrieved from: https://www.agedcareinsite.com.au/2016/09/gaming-to-keep-
people-safe-part-of-the-future-of-healthcare/
AppleStore(2019). Safe environment. Retrieved from: https://apps.apple.com/au/app/safe-

environments/id1156325485
Calasanti, T., & King, N. (2017). Successful aging, ageism, and the maintenance of age
and gender relations. Successful Aging as a Contemporary Obsession: Global
Perspectives, 27-40.
COTA (2019). For older Australia. Retrieved from: https://www.cota.org.au/
Kendig, H., Gong, C., & Cannon, L. (2018). Implementing age-friendly cities in
Australia. Age-friendly cities and communities: A global perspective, 167.
Kline, K. A., & Bowdish, D. M. (2016). Infection in an aging population. Current opinion
in microbiology, 29, 63-67.
Lamb, A. (2019). The University of the Third Age Movement in Australia: From Statewide
Networking to Community Engagement. In The University of the Third Age and
Active Ageing (pp. 145-155). Springer, Cham.
Le Saux, O., Watelet, S., Haution-Bitker, M., Murard-Reeman, F., Lecardonnel, C.,
Harchaoui, M., ... & Falandry, C. (2017). 2 Physiologic Changes of
Aging. Handbook of Geriatric Oncology.
Levy, S. R., & Macdonald, J. L. (2016). Progress on understanding ageism. Journal of
Social Issues, 72(1), 5-25.
Myagedcafre (2019). Access Australian aged care information and services. Retrieved
from: https://www.myagedcare.gov.au/
Ross, D. L., Schrag, W. F., & Pond, P. (2016). The pros and cons of home vs. in-center
dialysis in the elderly. In Dialysis in Older Adults (pp. 29-44). Springer, New York,
NY.
Szanton, S. L., Leff, B., Wolff, J. L., Roberts, L., & Gitlin, L. N. (2016). Home-based care
program reduces disability and promotes aging in place. Health Affairs, 35(9),
1558-1563.

U3A Australia (2019). U3A alliance Australia. Retrieved from: http://www.u3aaa.org/