Reduce Hospitalization of Nursing Home

¶ … reduce Hospitalization of Nursing Home Residents

For many older adults, ingrained behaviors such as smoking, poor diet and a lack of exercise can be especially challenging to reverse, even in spite of recommendations from doctors and other healthcare professionals. For some time, demographers have expressed concern that the first part of the 21st century would face a number of potential challenges due to an aging population. In the first part of the 21st century, the United States is not particularly healthy, nor does the medical paradigm necessarily work to promote or produce health. Studies from such diverse groups as the Rand Corporation, the National Institute of Health, the National Institute on Aging, and the New England Journal of Medicine have all come to the same conclusion. Indeed, it is alarming to note that the trend toward obesity has exponentially risen in every single region of the United States since 1991, as reported by the "Get America Fit Foundation" (Obesity Related Statistics in America, 2008).

One of the reasons so many older individuals need to move to a nursing or care facility is their inability to take care of themselves, manage their meals and medications, and remain vibrant in their twilight years. Much of these issues surround diabetes, cardiac issues, renal issues, and pulmonary issues. However, the one thing each has in common is that they are largely based on diet and some level of obesity. The challenge for healthcare is both to mitigate the issue of obesity, therefore minimizing ancillary issues, and to ensure activity so that depression-based illnesses do not set in as well. It is like a domino effect, many healthcare professionals note; the obesity comes from years and years of unhealthy eating and diet; contributes to cardiac, pulmonary, arthritic, diabetes and renal issues that then cause the individual to lack the ability to exercise much, to socialize, and to remain active, thus depression sets in. These same statistics say that 20-30% of all adults over 65 suffer from some form of depression. Too, the cost burden of diabetes is staggering, causing the issue to become a global pandemic (Ellison and Verma, 2003; Jack and Boseman, 2004).

One of the best ways to reduce older adults from being placed in care facilities for the issues surrounding obesity is to formulate a healthy living plan -- not just a healthy eating plan, and certainly nothing so restrictive in that it would seriously impair the individual's quality of life. This can be done in three basic ways:

Change dietary patterns -- it is easier to eat high-sugar, high-fat, and high-carb foods because they are everywhere. This is particularly true for individuals on a fixed income. However, adding more fresh fruit and vegetables to the diet, eliminating sodas and empty calorie drinks, and ensuring 8-glasses of water consumed daily, and reducing fast food and snacks goes a long way to maintaining optimum weight.

Change activity patterns -- Older adults sometimes do not want to exercise or move a great deal. At the very least, walk for 30 minutes daily; and if weather is an issue, consider a treadmill or a walking club at a local mall. Join a club and consider water aerobics.