Community health nursing in older adults and hospice patients
Introduction
Community health nursing is a type of welfare which is very important and vital to the community in whole and to the many weaker populations in the community, among which are disabled people, chronically ill people, the elderly, etc.
I chose to focus on the population of the older adults and the hospice patients, which is, in my view, one of the most important populations needing assistance.
In this population, as expected, there are many health problems due to the old age or the fact that they are in a hospice, indicating that they suffer from some illness which requires around the clock care.
Dementia
One of the more significant problems for this population, and perhaps the most important one, is dementia, which is one of the chronic diseases which have become the primary cause of death in most parts of the world (1, p.1). The significance of it can also be witnessed by the number of people who have it. There is a staggering number of 24 millions people with dementia today, and this number will drastically escalate to over 81 million by the year 2040 (1, p.1). This illustrates the dire need for more health care and access to it for this population. This also happens to be the first objective of the healthy people 2010 initiative, which is a program that aims at helping individuals of all ages increase life expectancy and improve their quality of life (2).
Assessing the community health needs
In order to assess the community health needs of the elderly and hospice population, several sources of data can be used. Firstly, surveillance at institutions where the population is staying could provide live information and a deep understanding of the situation. Secondly, the U.S Department of Health and Human Services can provide statistics. Thirdly, the media can provide a general assessment of the situation.
Fourthly, doctors and health specialists can provide theoretical and practical information, as well as a different point of view. I would personally also use another method of data collection, which is interviewing the staff of the hospices and elderly nurse homes, and the relatives of the people staying there. Generally speaking, they will be the key informants, because they can provide a wide picture of the situation and offer an in-depth understanding of the health needs of this population.