DNP 801 Topic 6 DQ1
Topic 6: Aging
Objectives:
1. Assess the impact of the aging population and client demand on expenditures and resources.
2. Propose methods to use evidence-based data sources on innovative approaches to care of the aging.
Topic 6 DQ 1
What is the impact of the aging population on both increased health care expenditures and wasted resources? Do genetics play a role? How can the doctoral-prepared nurse apply this information in practice? Explain. Support your rationale with a minimum of two scholarly sources.
Topic 6 DQ 2
Identify a method that uses evidence-based data to support new or innovative ways to care for the aging population. What are the anticipated outcomes of employing this method and methods like it? How can the doctoral-prepared nurse apply this information in practice? Explain. Support your rationale with a minimum of two scholarly sources.
Health Issues for the Aging
As of 2017, health carenexpenditures in the United States are near 17.9% of our gross domestic product (GDP), with a major portion of Medicare funding going toward chronic illness and care at the last 6 months of life. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) has made some initial legislative changes in the U.S. health system, but not sufficient enough to address growing expenditures and caring for the large aging population. In this assignment, learners will synthesize issues in aging with health policy solutions by writing a paper
on one health issue for older individuals addressed in the topic and offering a policy solution. Example of issue: In 2014, more than 50% of the costs of institutional long-term care for older persons was paid for with public
funds from Medicaid.
General Guidelines:
Use the following information to ensure successful completion of the assignment:
- This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
- Doctoral learners are required to use APA style for their writing assignments. The APA Style Guide is located in the Student Success Center.
- This assignment requires that at least two additional scholarly research sources related to this topic and at least one in-text citation for each source be included.
- You are required to submit this assignment to Lopeswrite. A link to the Lopeswrite technical support articles is located in Class Resources if you need assistance.
Directions:
Write a paper(1,000-1,250 words) that addresses a health issue for older individuals.
Include the following:
1. Evaluate what the literature suggests as a resolution to your chosen issue.
2. Discuss any attempts to incorporate the solution into public policy.
3. Determine the barriers to implementation of the solution.
4. Analyze the options being discussed for public or private funding.
5. Propose your own recommendation.
Sample 1 Topic 6 DQ1
Impact of Aging Population on Health Care Expenditures
Population growth and aging raise health care costs annually. Using secondary data and models, the authors calculated the influence of demographic shifts on past and future expenses. Aging and population increase were anticipated to affect physician, nursing, hospital, and facility costs. They also calculated their impact on “other
personal” spending on health care, such as dental treatment, other health professionals, medications, and vision goods. Their analysis found that aging and population expansion drove up health care expenses.
Various studies have found that an aging population increases wasted resources. US healthcare prices are substantially higher than other industrial nations with equivalent or better performance in the health system. The aging population contributes to wasteful expenditure, which may be reduced by reducing waste. Furthermore, they pointed out that medical insurance and health uncertainty promote inefficient and low-value care in an aging population (Shrank et al., 2019). Genetics contribute to the increased gaining population through the accumulation of genetic mutations that cannot be repaired, which in turn contribute to
increased health costs and wasted resources.
Nursing science may help these professionals create scientific evidence for better clinical care and quality of life for our aging population (Howdon & Rice, 2018). Nurses with a DNP may offer acute care in hospitals, preventive care in primary care offices and the community, and long-term care in nursing homes and assisted
living facilities. This can help offset excessive spending and waste. This group of nurses may serve as team leaders and active members of multidisciplinary and interprofessional teams to understand and successfully
manage complicated elder care issues and deliver person-centered care.
References
Howdon, D., & Rice, N. (2018). Health care expenditures, age, proximity to death and morbidity:
Implications for an aging population. Journal of health economics, 57, 60-74.
Shrank, W. H., Rogstad, T. L., & Parekh, N. (2019). Waste in the US health care system: estimated
costs and potential for savings. Jama, 322(15), 1501-1509.
Sample 2 Topic 6 DQ1
Population aging facilitates growing costs in healthcare services due to an increase in the utilization of age-related procedures and treatments and other healthcare needs. According to the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, the baby boomers generation will be managing more than one chronic condition. These conditions may include hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and congestive heart failure (Marešová et al., 2015). Heart disease, stroke, and cancer have been the leading chronic conditions that have significantly
impacted the aging population (Marešová et al., 2015). Managing these chronic conditions and a patient’s level of disability will increase the financial demands on our health care system. The cost increases with the number of chronic conditions being treated, considering the expected twice as many hospital admissions and physician visits (Marešová et al., 2015). Previous studies revealed patients with genetic diseases have more frequent and more prolonged hospitalizations and, therefore, higher healthcare costs (Marešová et al., 2015). Because many individuals are diagnosed with genetic chromosomal abnormalities disease at a young age, and most rare diseases are severe, rare disease patients are likely to require more time in the hospital and incur more extraordinary medical expenses over a lifetime than those without rare diseases.
The importance of DNP-prepared nurses addressing the increasing aging population, the health care system must take on the challenges of resource needs that will continue to increase across all healthcare settings. DNP-prepared nurses must prepare for the increasing incidences of chronic conditions within the aging population and develop strategies to prevent falls (Suzman et al., 2015). A significant challenge is implementing new health care delivery approaches to address this aging population’s changing health status. With this population’s chronic conditions on the rise, their health care becomes more complex. In addition, the health care system must implement a multidisciplinary approach to ensure positive patient care outcomes when receiving management (Suzman et al., 2015). Strategies may entail a more comprehensive care plan before discharge, a system to help identify patients who require follow-up, and implementing a program to help monitor patients (Suzman et al., 2015).
References
Marešová, P., Mohelská, H., & Kuča, K. (2015). Economics aspects of ageing population. Procedia economics and finance, 23, 534-538.
Suzman, R., Beard, J. R., Boerma, T., & Chatterji, S. (2015). Health in an ageing world—what do we
know?. The Lancet, 385(9967), 484-486.
Sample 1 Topic 6 DQ2
Falls are one of the major causes of injury and fatality yearly among persons sixty-five and older. The aging population is at considerable risk for falls for a variety of reasons regardless of where they live. Falls are any sudden drop from one surface to a lower surface. This fall prevention evidence-based practice guideline aims to
describe approaches that can distinguish individuals at risk for falls. A 10-step protocol in a study includes screening for falls, comprehensive fall, assessment, gait, and balance screening when necessary, and an individualized fall intervention program addressing specific fall risks. Reassessing fall risk and fall prevention programs will ensure an initiative-taking approach to reducing falls in the aging population (Kruschke & Butcher, 2017).
In addition, falls by older people in health care facilities, such as nursing homes, and hospitals are common events that may cause loss of independence, injuries, and sometimes death because of injury. Effective methods to prevent falls are therefore essential. Different interventions can produce better outcomes. These encompass
exercise, medication interventions that include vitamin D supplementation, and reviews of the drugs that people are taking. Environment or assistive technologies including bed or chair alarms or the use of special (low/low)
beds, social environment interventions that target staff members and changes in the organizational system, and knowledge interventions are important. A special type of intervention is the multifactorial intervention, where the selection of single interventions such as exercise and vitamin D supplementation is based on an assessment of a person’s risk factors for falling. One outcome is the rate of falls, which is the number of falls. The other outcome is the risk of falling, which is the number of people who had one or more falls (Cameron et al., 2018).
The DNP nurse can utilize a multidisciplinary approach to create a safe patient environment, including the fall prevention protocol and education for nurses. Also, the DNP nurse may utilize the intervention to prevent an increased patient’s length of stay and healthcare costs that may also trigger lawsuits resulting in settlements of
millions of dollars due to patient injury (Chu, 2017).
References
Cameron, I. D., Dyer, S. M., Panagoda, C. E., Murray, G. R., Hill, K. D., Cumming, R. G., & Kerse, N. (2018). Interventions for preventing falls in older people in care facilities and hospitals. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 9(9). https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd005465.pub4
Chu, R. Z. (2017). Preventing in-patient falls. Nursing, 47(3), 24–30. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.nurse.0000512872.83762.69
Kruschke, C., & Butcher, H. K. (2017). Evidence-Based Practice Guideline: Fall Prevention for Older Adults. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 43(11), 15–21. https://doi.org/10.3928/00989134-20171016-01
Sample 2 Topic 6 DQ2
Most developed nations are experiencing an increasingly aging population in some way. The rise in the aging population is attributed to an increased life expectancy due to declines in infant mortality and premature death (Williams et al., 2019). However, the aging population is often judged negatively from an economic view. On average, older age groups have significantly higher health care expenditures than younger ones, especially in developed healthcare systems. As a result, policy-makers often believe population ageing will lead to an unconstrained increase in health spending (Williams et al., 2019). Nonetheless, an aging population does not mean there will be large increases in health expenditure growth.
An aging population is also associated with wastage of healthcare resources. Cristea et al. (2020) assert that population aging brings about growing healthcare costs owing to an increase in age-related medical procedures and treatments. This pushes up costs of long-term care, which are projected to increase faster than other healthcare needs. However, these procedures and treatments are often unnecessary leading to wastage (Cristea et al., 2020). Besides, elderly patients with more than one chronic illness consult more than one specialist. The different specialists often order the same diagnostic tests resulting in wastage.
Genetics are associated with non-communicable diseases (NCDs), often diagnosed in the aging population and resulting in increased healthcare spending. For example, genetics are associated with NCDs like cancer, hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes (Melzer et al., 2020). The treatment of these diseases significantly affects the economics of the healthcare system since patients often require life-long medication and regular follow-ups. The DNP- nurse can utilize the information to assess elderly patients and their health risks and implement lifestyle interventions to lower the risk of NCDs. This can help lower the healthcare
costs associated with the treatment of NCDs.
References
Cristea, M., Noja, G. G., Stefea, P., & Sala, A. L. (2020). The Impact of Population Aging and Public Health Support on EU Labor Markets. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(4), 1439. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17041439
Melzer, D., Pilling, L. C., & Ferrucci, L. (2020). The genetics of human ageing. Nature Reviews Genetics, 21(2), 88-101. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41576-019-0183-6
Williams, G., Cylus, J., Roubal, T., Ong, P., Barber, S., & World Health Organization. (2019). Sustainable health financing with an ageing population: will population ageing lead to uncontrolled health expenditure growth?
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