Smoking in The Elderly

As one ages inevitably changes will take place physically and mentally. However, some of these changes can be minimized if one factor is taken out of the equation, smoking.

Many of you know someone close to you that smokes. More importantly a dear loved one. For me, I personally feel appalled and saddened by the fact that my mother, who’s getting older, decides to continue to smoke after knowing the risks associated with it. “Each year cigarette smoking causes 1 of 5 deaths in the country and an estimated 8.6 million persons have a serious illness attributed to smoking” (Ferrini & Ferrini, 2008, p. 114). Despite my many efforts to encourage her to quit, she has failed to accomplish smoking cessation for one reason or another.

The question that often haunts me is what have I not done to convince her to stop? I have even tried the pity stories “Oh Mom, don’t you want to be around for your grandchildren when they graduate college & make families?” “Do you realize that not having you in our lives will bring a lot of emotional pain to us?” “You see what it did with the early death of Dad? What about your parents? They both died as a result of smoking one had heart disease and the other cancer?

There is evidence out there that supports the claims that smoking is a killer. “It harms every part of the body system” (Ferrini & Ferrini, 2008, p. 115). What’s more astounding is that it is totally preventable. So, why after the information given they continue to smoke? I wish I knew the answer to this.

References:

Ferrini, A. F., & Ferrini, R. L. (2008). Health in the Later Years. New York, New York: McGraw-Hill.

Abuse in Nursing Homes

The increase in nursing home abuse is an alarming trend that faces our long term care consumers. Unfortunately, at some point in our lives we all will possibly be affected by this trend; whether it be a loved one or a friend. However, if we are more educated on the signs and symptoms of abuse we can potentially prevent it from ever happening to our loved ones.

What is nursing home abuse, you ask? It is the physical, sexual or emotional abuse of an elderly person usually one who is disabled or frail. The physical signs and symptoms of abuse range from the not so obvious broken bones to unexplained bruises, bed sores to the emotional signs of being humiliated or intimidated by the employees of the facility. If any of theses symptoms are spotted or suspected on your loved one it needs to be immediately brought to the attention of the administrator. It is best to further investigate any suspicious signs or symptoms; it’s better to be safe than sorry, as our loved ones rely on us to be their advocate. We must fight for them!

Additionally, Florida Statues Chapter 400 states that our nursing homes must ensure safe, adequate and appropriate care, treatment and health of persons in such facilities. This is a written law that must be adhered to and if not the perpetrators should be brought to justice. As an administrator I will be vigilant and enforce this law in my facility and I hope to help curb this alarming trend of abuse.

Mandatory Driving Tests for the Elderly 65+

Do you have a loved one that insists on driving their car although they are blind as a bat? Do you rely on your faith to ease your mind until they arrive at their destination? I have and it is very stressful, to say the least, and according to National Safety Counsel, I have a legitimate reason for this concern. “Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of accidental death among the elders aged 65-74” (Ferrini and Ferrini 181).

As you age your hearing, vision and cognitive abilities diminish. These are all required to safely drive a motor vehicle. Physicians are responsible at recognizing the loss of these required abilities with guidelines set by the American Medical Association (Ferrini and Ferrini 183). However, due to limited time with the patients, doctors often overlook these and the patients with diminished abilities are free {and legal} to drive their car at their leisure.

In 2004 Florida mandated vision screening for drivers over age 80, this resulted in a decline in death rates among the elderly by 17% (McGwin, Sarrels and Griffin). However, as a concerned loved one, I feel that this age should be taken down even further to the age of 65, as this is the age at which the diminished vision starts. Additionally, I feel that mandating annual driving tests that test the cognitive and hearing abilities, for all elderly {ages 65 and older} by the respective states, will help reduce the unnecessary accidental deaths and ultimately make our roads safer.

Works Cited

Ferrini, Armeda and Rebecca Ferrini. Health in the Later Years. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008.

McGwin, Gerald, et al. "The impact of a vision screening law on older driver fatality rates." Archives of Ophthalmology 126.11 (2008): 1544-1547.

Ageism; Stereotyping of the Elderly

Our society is keenly aware of prejudice against African-Americans. Recently President Obama emphasized the progress made in regard to racial prejudice in a speech at the infamous Vermont Ave Baptist Church. However, we are unfortunately unaware of the rising ageism taking place against our elders. Our society helps to foster this growing phenomena thru but not limited to, advertisement on television, in magazines, and through messages on greeting cards.

Ageism is a word coined by Dr. Robert Butler, president of the International Longevity Center over 35 years ago to describe discrimination in the elderly. Who do we consider the elderly you ask? You are considered to be elderly if you are 65 or older. Our elderly population in the United States is growing rapidly and, “By the year 2030, one out of five people in the United States will be aged 65 and over” (Ferrini,5 ). Living in Florida, I am very aware of the large population of elderly; a lot of elderly like to come here to the sunshine state to retire. What this means, essentially, is that more elderly will become victims of ageism.

We all see it, on television and in magazines, advertisers mostly utilize the young and they often portray the elderly in a negative light. Between the years 1990-1999, 415 commercials ran, 269 had young people in them and only 19 had older people (Leyell, Miller, Mazachek). Additionally, these commercials depict the elderly as frail, immobile and lacking intellect. We all see the ads in magazines, an aesthetically pleasing young person gracing the cover. Why can’t we have an elderly woman on the cover showing her beautiful wrinkles and her stunning salt and pepper colored hair? I feel that not only does the gray look classy, it portrays a woman who has experience and knowledge that you would not consider they had if they weren’t of that age. In another magazine, an ad for sexual enhancers for elderly men as if elderly were are the only ones that needed them. There are plenty of younger men that need and use sexual enhancers, just ask around. You pass by the the greeting cards in the grocery stores and the ‘attention getting’ words on those cards mock the mobility and intellect of the elderly. A lot of Americans, myself included, enjoy the humor in the ‘over-the-hill’ and ‘old fart’ cards. Unfortunately, the elderly often view it as brutally offensive. This is clearly discrimination and can affect their behaviors and often lead to lower self-esteem. Why don’t we value aging? Why don’t we respect and honor it?

I feel that although we are making progress in regard to racial discrimination, we have along way to go as a society when it comes to discriminating against the elderly. Just like with racial discrimination, ageism needs to be addressed. I feel that we need to embrace aging and accept the wrinkles and the gray hair for what they are. We need to become more educated about ageism and we need to respect the elderly for who they are and what they have accomplished, not by their physical appearances. Eventually, we will all age.

References:

Ferrini, Armeda and Ferrini, Rebecca. Health in the Later Years. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008.

Leyell, Teresita, and Mazachel, Julian and Miller, Darryl. "Stereotyping of the Elderly in U.S.Television Commercials From the 1950's to the 1990's." Journal of Advertising History. Special issue. (2002).