MUSTAPHA, Nadja Jamilah Domaub

NSG131 - Section A

Reflect on the questions:

1. Briefly describe the current aging phenomenon and express its implications to the
nursing practice.
Population ageing is posed as the one of the esteemed social transformations of the
modern century, with a promising life expectancy of beyond sixties. Decline in mortality,
advanced medical procedures, and decline in fertility pose as key factors contributing to
the phenomena. In the Philippines, the elderly cohort is said to dominate the younger
cohort of children less than 5 years old by 2069. Overtime, the acceleration rate trend is
expected to hold worldwide.
The demographic shift will bring enormous changes in the society. This will require
measures strengthening the services rendered to the increasing population group.
Although ageing is an indication of conquered challenges related to income, health, and
education, an existing major setback is still in the same manner---health. Self care
deficits is of highest concern throughout senescence.
Nurses have been the primary caregivers in the elderly. They play a central role in
transforming the health care system to create a more accessible, high quality, and value-
driven patient-centered care in the society. The challenges will be increasingly critical in
the future as the demographic shift continues, as the demands will be prominent and
greater in number. Essentially, there is a need to identify ways to improve health care
settings from the acute care setting like nursing homes to the community; render primary
care than specialized care; and foster interdisciplinary collaboration.
Another concern implicating nursing priority is the imposing health threat on the
caregivers of the elderly. The caregiver burden for immediate family and friends
shoulders/assumes great threat to their health. They themselves experience higher
incidences of disease and disability, experiencing stress, depression, and physical strains
as they provide care to loved ones.
The alarming demographic shift highlights the need for nursing scientific base of
research on nurses and nurse researchers. With the ultimate goal of transforming a better
health care delivery system, because majority of health consumers in the coming decades
will be older adults.

2. How are the theories of aging change your outlook on aging.

 Initially, my idea of aging is the presence of diseases and disabilities, disabling an
individual from engaging in social activities. Eventually, the body cannot ensure a
hundred percent strength to combat health threats. But now, through the enlightenment of
my professor, I realized that aging is not merely the presence of diseases or the increased
number of age, but more on the ethical code changes that a person experiences
throughout their growing age.
Aging has an in-depth relationship to the social, emotional, and psychological well-
being of an individual. There are environmental stressors affecting the perspective and
actions of a person, posing a threat and imbalance to their psychological and
physiological well-being. Thus, a continuous stimulus of different threats on the integrity
of a person, whether the mind or body, accelerates aging rate.
The different theories provided a different perspective on the discerning concern of
older adults, far from the biological perspective everyone assumes. Our grandparents and
parents are afflicted of not only physiological strains and complications, but a greater and
complex imbalances emotionally and mentally. These are shift in societal roles, feeling
of powerlessness, self-concept problems, etc. Illuminating why elders are very sensitive,
and always sticking to their values and rituals. Thus, as a future health care provider and
a child of an aging mother, it is imperative that I grasp the meaning and phases the older
adults are experiencing. And through my appreciation, I can provide adequate support
and care to their specific needs.