Investigating Policy In Ageing

Aging can be illustrated by a systematic process of discrimination and stereotyping against older people just because they are old. According to the Human Rights Commission, aging is a feature where older people are merged, or people think about them as the same because of their age.

The health and its cure among the aging people of the society have further been discussed and have a significant impact on the country’s culture. Health is a fundamental issue in any society and plays a vital role in the development of any community or nation (Tonetti et al., 2017). Meanwhile, regarding aging, health is considered to be an essential aspect that can be controlled practically and emotionally. These health problems consist of various types of diseases, which are going to be further discussed in the study and will help in making policy for it.

Importance Of Ageing Policy:

Population aging has a massive effect on organizing and delivering health care. The most important aspects to be discussed in the field are the development of small to long-term illnesses and the shortage of healthcare individuals. Health issues in developing areas have diversified and increased a lot in recent times (Tonetti et al., 2017). These issues are of great importance because a lot of old people have minor health issues, and due to those minor issues, a long-term issue is created. Before, there were no policies made about diminishing health issues, and health measures are needed to address this matter.

Issues To Consider In Policy Writing:

The foremost issue in the health measures to pursue is to look for chronic sickness, like heart disease, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer’s disease, instead of small and acute syndromes. For this purpose, a design has to be made, where the style of medicine will be changed, which corrects a single health issue instead of curing multiple diseases after a long time. Patients and doctors will maintain an engaging relationship to help the patients deal with the disease instead of directly healing it. With long-term treatment comes disability for aging people. Nursing homes, personal care, and dedicated housing services will manage this side of the procedure. After that, the financial and insurance system needs to look forward to maintaining the purpose it is started for.

The most important issue that comes to the application of the aging policy is professional staff commitment. It includes certified care specialists, nurse assistants, personal care attendants, and house care individuals. The staff that provide health care to the old people are mostly women, are from racial or ethnic minorities, and are not skilled enough to give the appropriate health care (Peterson, 2015). Heavy workloads, low wages and incentives, complex working conditions, and a job that is not liked by society have also played a vital role in the hiring and motivation of the situation.

If this was a short-term problem, it could be solved quickly. But, when it is treated with a more substantial concern, it creates a considerable imbalance (Klimczuk, 2017). Hiring professional staff on a shorter level also does not make a difference because the aging problem cannot be dealt with on a more brief note. According to the survey, the number of registered nursing staff is forecasted to decline by 20% by 2020. To attract more workers to the job, higher wages and benefits are required.

To increase the health of the aging population, public programs can also play a decisive role in the development. These programs mostly include the financing of health care for older people. It is believed to have a significant impact on older people. Quick care services for older people, like physician and hospital care, are financed by private and public sources (Oliver, Foot & Humphries, 2014). There are a variety of social and medical care programs funded and administered by the sponsors. These programs can also include some young populations. Overall, these finances have primarily decreased in the past few years. It has also influenced the need for the issue in recent years (Buffel et al., 2016). The aging population, who do not have any financial resources, rely on healthcare funded by anybody. So, when they do not get any appropriate health, they tend to be moving towards severe health conditions.

Where most short-term care finance can be easily deprived, long-term facilities are also an important issue. Chronic care financing, like home and community-based services, is mostly done by NGOs, government entities, and private insurance (Baker & Baker, 2017). Such medical care features need to be adopted, where the medical care facilities are strict and provide a got earning for the staff also. The long-term cure needs to have long-term finance, which is provided by a consistent source. With an increased aging population comes more challenges.

Suggestions For New Policy Adoption:

Besides the points mentioned above, the central policy that should be implemented is the income an old person receives. This is other than the health issue but is of equal importance. Public entities also fund these incomes and make a tremendous impact on the behavior of old patients (Smit et al., 2016). Policies should be made according to the desired number of people who are aging. In every society, there are entities that help the organization and improve them accordingly. Previously, medical care programs covered only elders and some people with any disease (Araujo et al., 2016). Such policies need to be finished, and a “policy for all” should be made. Some countries have programs that cover the entire population.

References

Araujo de Carvalho, I., Byles, J., Aquah, C., Amofah, G., Biritwum, R., Panisset, U., … & Beard, J. (2015). Informing evidence-based policies for ageing and health in Ghana. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 93(1), 47-51.

Baker, A., & Baker, A. (2017). Obesity in an Ageing Population: A Proposed Multidisciplinary Intervention Model for Supporting Cognitive Performance and Physical Function in Obese Seniors. Adv Obes Weight Manag Control, 6(5), 00174.

Buffel, T., McGarry, P., Phillipson, C., De Donder, L., Dury, S., De Witte, N., … & Verté, D. (2016). Developing age-friendly cities: Case studies from Brussels and Manchester and implications for policy and practice. In Environmental Gerontology in Europe and Latin America (pp. 277-296). Springer, Cham.

Klimczuk, A. (2017). A diversity of Ageing Policy Concepts. In Economic Foundations for Creative Ageing Policy, Volume II(pp. 55-102). Palgrave Macmillan, New York.

Oliver, D., Foot, C., & Humphries, R. (2014). Making our health and care systems fit for an ageing population. King’s Fund.

Peterson, M. (2015). Introduction: Homelessness is an ageing policy issue. Parity, 28(6), 9.

Smit, M., Cassidy, R., Cozzi-Lepri, A., Girardi, E., Mammone, A., Antinori, A., … & Monforte, A. D. A. (2016, October). Quantifying the future clinical burden of an ageing HIV-positive population in Italy: a mathematical modelling study. In 13th International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV infection.

Sowada, C., Kowalska-Bobko, I., Mokrzycka, A., Domagała, A., Zabdyr-Jamróz, M., Tambor, M., & Golinowska, S. (2017). The activities of older people when healthy ageing policy and funding is limited. The institutional and financial dimensions of health promotion for older people in Poland. Zdrowie Publiczne i Zarządzanie, 2017(Numer 1), 69-84.

Tomczyk, Ł., & Klimczuk, A. (2017). CHALLENGES OF AGEING POLICY.

Tonetti, M. S., Bottenberg, P., Conrads, G., Eickholz, P., Heisman, P., Huysmans, M. C., … & Nyvad, B. (2017). Dental caries and periodontal diseases in the ageing population: call to action to protect and enhance oral health and well‐being as an essential component of healthy ageing–Consensus report of group 4 of the joint EFP/ORCA workshop on the boundaries between caries and periodontal diseases. Journal of Clinical Periodontology, 44(S18).