Supporting the Aged Communities

Question: Discuss about theSupporting the Aged Communities. Answer: Introduction: This report reflects the positive aspect of the aged care services that is related to the well-being of the older community. Functionality of the organs gets reduced by with increasing age. Furthermore, aged people lost the capability to complete their daily tasks without involving help from others. Chronic disease and other health complications make them both socially and emotionally isolated. Common issues like impact of the aged service on social and economic scenario, initiatives taken by government and non-government organization have been discussed. Establishment of theoretical approach on this topic has made this report more reliable and realistic. As per few reports, the number of the aged people, who is over 60, has reached to approximately 600 million; it is being expected that this number will increase by double by the year of 2025. Ageing also invites various kind of disease with itself; few of them can also be chronic. That is why primary health care is essential for the aged person so that they can enjoy all the facilities being an indistinct part of the mainstream society. This report has mainly focused on the primary healthcare services for the elderly community in Australia. Governmental Initiatives for the Support of Aged Care: Life expectancy of the aged people has been increased over past generations and now people can expect to live their life up to 85 years (Ageing (AIHW), 2016). To help the older in living the life comfortably and healthy way Australian government has taken approaches for them. It includes several packages and services for the aged people. Council of Australian Government (COAG) supervises and regulates these matters and is committed to the concern of various aged care reforms. Two initiatives relevant for the aged care, approached by this authority are National Health Reform Agreement and 2010-2020 National Disability Strategy. National Health Reform Agreement objectifies the development of consistent and well-served aged care system across the country. This agreement secures the necessary funding for the community-based care services in most of the territories and states across Australia for the people of 65 years of age and for aboriginals the age limit is 50 years. 2010-2020 Nation al Disability Strategy focuses on the betterment of life standard for the aged people with disabilities. In this regard, the new name of the programs and packages, supported and aided by the Australian government, are Community Aged Care Package (CACP), Extended Aged Care at Home (EACH). Apart from this, health care support is also available in the form of home and community-based service as well as residential care home also for the older population. Impact of the Health and Community Support of the Older People: There is no difference of opinion about the fact that health and community-based services are necessary to make the social attributes and facilities available for the aged people. Starfield (2012), mentioned reducing fertility and increasing life expectancy is the main reason for the outgrowing number of aged population. Maintenance of the balance and integrity of society demands the equal participation and enjoyment of the right for each person (Macdonald, 2013) Thus, it is important to make the older people socially active and financially sound. Public policies should be revised according to the requirements for the aged population; whereas, health staffs and families of the older people must hold a supportive approach so that both physical and emotional stability can be obtained. However, Birren et al. (2014), has given insight on another perspective; due to increasing aged population, social productivity has been decreasing whereas, the government has to fund some programs and pa ckages for the aged population. Thus, this scenario may be alarming for the economic condition. On the contrary, Rashidi and Mihailidis (2013), mentioned community and health services have helped the elderly people to live their life as per their wish, without any guilt, dependency and complicated health and mental issues. Discussion on the Intensity of the Aged Support Service and its Impact: Provision of community support and healthcare service is important for social, political and financial aspect. Keeping this fact in mind both the governments and non-government organizations have taken steps to concrete the programs and services for the aged population (Fernndez-Ballesteros et al. 2013). The government has provided financial aid for these services and help from NGOs required to make these services more accessible to the every part of a country. Both the government and non-government sectors can work hand to hand to make this service successful. They can organize numerous campaigns and programs for the elderly people so that they can be aware of basic health maintenance criteria. On this regard, promotion of physical activities and healthy practice will facilitate the concept of active ageing (Chou, Hwang Wu, 2012). The primary focus of the community-based health services must be patient-centric so that issues of avoidance, negligence and unequal services can be avoi ded (Stanhope Lancaster, 2015). Theories Related to the Aged Service: For a theoretical establishment of this topic, Theory of Change can be considered. This theory is applicable for non-profit, philanthropical and governmental sectors that promote activities for the improvement of society and standard of life. This approach focuses on obtaining long-term aims and assessing the preconditions to reach the goal (Moyer, 2012). There are three control criteria for this theory such as: Plausibility: This component refers to the assessment of the relevant aspect of the expected consequences. Necessity and availability of the preconditions are assessed so that an idea can be obtained on the fact whether these are appropriate for reaching the goals. It is also measured if there is any gap in logical representation. Feasibility: This evaluates the consequences of any plan and its impact. Opportunity, expectation and timeframe are important parts of this dimension that are considered when measuring the potentiality of accomplishment of any project. Testability: This component is mainly concerned with indicators. It refers to the measurement of the indicators whether those can yield sufficient data to assess the success of the initiatives. Other concern is the validity of a proposed service to the target audience. For this topic, all these three criteria, mentioned above, can be related to the health and community-based service. Plausibility can be applied to know the steps are appropriate to the service for aged people. Feasibility can help to get an idea of the opportunity of the aged service and its impact (Maddox, 2013). Required time and expectations from the healthcare service for aged people can also be measured. Testability would help to know the accuracy of the indicators for the accomplishment of the service. Primary Health Care for the Older Population and its Impact: Chronic diseases like hypertension diabetes are common in elderly community. Primary health care implants various steps that help the aged people to counter the consequences of chronic diseases. According to, Grol et al.(2012), primary healthcare contributes to lower the unequal health services for the aged people, number of cases that involves frequent hospitalization and mortality rate for the older person. This service promotes the well-being and healthy practices for the older community; it makes attempt more positive clinical outcome. Apart from this, primary healthcare is an extended dimension for the development of the society. The main areas of focus for this service are Falls Prevention, Dementia, and Incontinence (Osborn et al. 2014). According to a report, among people who are at the quota of their 80s, half of them are tend to face the fall annually. Primary care like a regular health check up, intake of balanced and nutritious food and adequate physical exercise can infl uence the fall prevention of elderly people. Another common problem, dementia can be further countered if the facility of the primary healthcare service is available for the aged person. Incontinence in the late age is common and occurs due to the dysfunctional bladder. Treatment of the primary health service can manage this condition in a better way. Issues related with bowel can be resolved with proper medication and food habits. Primary service involves this area also. Implementation of the services, provided by the primary care, for older population can eradicate the common and complicated issues and support the aged both in physical and mental terms. Conclusion: Hence, as a conclusory note, it can be said that this report will help to get an overall prcised idea on the various dimensions of the aged care services and importance in the society. Here the content has been discussed in the Australian context. Many package and services have been described to understand the efforts and initiatives of the Australian Government on the aged care concerns. The significance of supporting older community for on social aspect has also been discussed here. Apart from that, a theoretical base has been developed on this topic to make it more acceptable. The requirement of primary healthcare for the older people is another inclusion of this study that will help to understand the fundamental criteria for the provision of services. This report has covered all the requirements of the assignment and can be further revised while conducting extensive research. Reference List: Ageing (AIHW). (2016). Aihw.gov.au. Retrieved 28 October 2016, from https://www.aihw.gov.au/ageing/ Birren, J. E., Lubben, J. E., Rowe, J. C., Deutchman, D. E. (Eds.). (2014).The concept and measurement of quality of life in the frail elderly. Academic Press. Chou, C. H., Hwang, C. L., Wu, Y. T. (2012). Effect of exercise on physical function, daily living activities, and quality of life in the frail older adults: a meta-analysis.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation,93(2), 237-244. Fernndez-Ballesteros, R., Robine, J. M., Walker, A., Kalache, A. (2013). 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