HCS 433 WEEK 3 Functionality Paper

Functionality Paper

With aging comes physiological, functional, and sensory changes. At times, this change can manifest as a loss. Often, a loss of function may begin a so-called downward spiral in the life of an elderly person, affecting his or her independence and quality of life.

Write a 1,400- to 1,750-word paper that addresses the above statement. Include how the specific loss of function might affect one or more activities of daily living.

Use a minimum of 3 references to support your response.

Format your assignment according to APA guidelines.

Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your Functionality Paper assignment.

HCS 433 WEEK 4 Services Presentation

There are many services available for older adults related to psychosocial, cognitive, and emotional issues.

Identify services available in a facility of your choice, based on where you would like to work in the health care field. What services does the facility offer to address the following areas:

Psychosocial
Cognitive
Emotional

Describe what you would recommend to fill the gap in service if the facility does not have a program that relates to one of the areas above.

Prepare an 8- to 10-slide Microsoft^® PowerPoint^® presentation outlining your findings. Cover slide and Reference slide do not count towards slides.

Include detailed speaker notes of 100 words minimum per slide.

Create a handout to accompany your presentation that you would use as a handout to your participants – this is what they will take away with them attending your presentation. Can be a borchure or flyer.

Format your assignment according to APA guidelines.

Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.

Functionality Paper SAMPLE

As a person begins to age there are certain changes they can expect to undergo. These changes can begin with their ability to process cognitive functions. Some of these cognitive functions include: attention, working memory, long term memory, and perceptions. A person may notice that they are not easily able to remember a person’s name like they were once able to. Forgetting directions to certain places they want to visit is also a common effect of the loss of cognitive functioning. Hand eye coordination will also begin to decline as the person begins to age. These changes begin to make it very hard for a person to be able to properly take care of themselves and thus robbing them of their independence. Once this begins to happen the individual may feel like their quality of life is being taken from them because of the possibilities that these changes can mean.

Cognitive functions are defined as any mental process that involves symbolic operations such as, perception, memory, creation of imagery, and thinking; CFs encompasses awareness and capacity for judgment, (“Cognitive Function”, 2015). Attention is one of the cognitive functions that is affected by the aging process. Attention is the ability for a person to be able to concentrate on one single object or thought. When a person’s attention begins to get worse they can find it very hard to concentrate on activities that once seemed very simple to do. Attention processes are comprised of selective, divided, and sustained attention. Selective attention is the ability to process and react too many different actions that are going on at the same time. There is a test that will spell out the color but in the text color that is different than the color being spelled. Examples of these types of tests are: blue, green, and orange. Divided attention is the ability to pay attention to more than one task at a time. When a person’s divided attention is affected older adults find it more difficult to divide their attention than their younger counterparts. This is particularly evident when there is a demand of two tasks are high. When aging older adults are not able to allocate these resources appropriately. Sustained attention is the ability to be able to concentrate on one specific task for a prolonged period of time. It has been shown that it is difficult for older adults.

When a person’s working memory declines the effects on other systems such as the long-term memory, language, problem solving, and decision making. When working memory begins to decline the ability to remember memories of the past becomes very difficult. Remembering faces and places will be one sign. This memory loss can last for a short period of time and then come back to the person. In other cases the person may never regain their memories as the issue becomes worse over time. Language such as slurring speech and inability to form words will be another sign of working memory decline. Attention, speed of information processing, and the ability to inhibit irrelevant information are all important functions for effective performance of these higher-level cognitive tasks.

Perception is can be affected in two different ways. With some individuals their perception of the world will increase as they have a better appreciation for their surroundings. It has been said that an older person has a better appreciation for life than a younger person due to having seen so many different things throughout their lives. This is not to say that younger adults and children do not have an appreciation for life, it’s just to say as you begin to be more comfortable with what they have.

A person’s independence can be severely affected by the effects of aging. As a person’s mobility, memory and overall ability begins to decline their ability to properly care for themselves begins to decline. For instance when a person’s eyesight begins to decline they will no longer be able to operate a vehicle. This can become an issue because now they will become dependent on another person to take them to places they will need to go to. Tasks that used to be routine such as bathing, dressing, and eating will be almost impossible to be done without assistance. One simple type of chore that will affect their independence is just being able to go and get groceries. Some people that happen to live in smaller cities or live very close to a grocery store may still be able to go and get minimal things that they may need. In order to go full grocery shopping they will now need to rely on other means of transportation. Hospital appointments would also require the person to rely on someone else to give them a ride or use means of public transportation. This can start to become a bigger issue if they do not have anyone that can or are not willing to give them the assistance that they need. If this happens they face the possibility of having to enter a long term care facility in order to get the assistance that they require. The transition of being independent to relying on others to help you can be more difficult for some than others. Being independent is being able to do the tasks that you need to do when you want without any assistance.

According to Center for Disease Control (2015), “Quality of life (QOL) is a broad multidimensional concept that usually includes subjective evaluations of both positive and negative aspects of life.” The quality of life concept as related to health has continued to evolve ever since 1980. It is always changing in order to be able to encompass specific aspects and how they can affect a person’s health no matter if it be mental or physical. Some older individuals may experience a positive effect in their quality of life. This can be attributed to them still having some type of mobility to be able to live their life how they see fit. Others who may not have the ability to still be able to take care of themselves as they were before have family and friends that are more than happy to assist them. These selfless actions can make older individuals feel special and make their quality of life still be very high. On the other hand you may have people on the other end of this spectrum. These individuals do not have any local family or friends that are able to assist them. In this case they may be force to live in a facility that is able to help them. This can make a person feel as if no one cares. Another possibility is the person falls into a depression because every step of their daily lives is a repeated process. When following the same routine every single day that is planned out for you can make you feel very negative about your quality of life.

The overall reality of aging is something that almost everyone will have to face. No matter how well you take care of yourself and how healthy you are the possibility of decreased cognitive functioning is a very high possibility. Quality of life, memory, and perception will be affected as you age. Education will be a very special tool when it comes to preparing for this possibility. When a person is able to prepare they can coordinate with family member and friends. This will give them a good idea if they have the support or funds to be able to live somewhat close to the life they had previously.