Health & Illness in Older People: Case Study – Patient Profile Assignment | Cheap Essay Services

I have already started with a rough format. Please use that for reference while writing.

A Case study is a comprehensive record of a patient’s overall health and living conditions it is used to assist with preparing the patients personalised care plan.

This case study will introduce an eighty-eight-year-old female who presented to her GP suffering from a pressure injury on her natal cleft.

Mrs Smith lives in a low set home, alone. Mrs Smith lost her husband to lung cancer 6 years ago. Since then her health has deteriorated significantly. She has one daughter who lives on the Gold Coast which is over an hour away by car.  Mrs smith has frequent contact with her daughter over the phone however due to the distance between them they don’t often see each other. Mrs Smith declines to receive any sort of community support or support services available to her as she believes she is coping well on her own. Mrs smith is limited with her mobility and range of movement due to osteoporosis. She mobilises with a 4-wheel walker outside the home and uses a walking stick inside her home. She is incontinent of urine and wears a pad both day and night.

Mrs Smith presents with pain on her tail bone, on examination her bottom is excoriated and there is a small 1 x 1 cm pressure injury stage 2 on her natal cleft. Mrs Smith suffers from Arthritis and Depression both illnesses significantly impact on her mobility. The main health concern for Mrs Smith is the pressure injury on her natal cleft; Mrs Smiths ability to heal from this pressure injury on her natal cleft is drastically impacted by her mobility being severely restricted by her Osteoarthritis and Depression.

The first comorbidity that Mrs Smith suffers from is Osteoarthritis.  Osteoarthritis is the most common type of Arthritis. Osteoartritis occurs when the cartilage on either end of the bone wears away causing bone to rub against pain which results in severe pain swelling and stiffness of the joints. Over time this wear and tear on the joint causes the joint itself to lose strength and the pain become a chronic issue.

https://www.arthritis.org/health-wellness/about-arthritis/understanding-arthritis/what-is-arthritis

The second comorbidity that affects Mrs Smith is her diagnosis of depression. Mrs Smith rarely leaves her home. Depression is not as simple as being defined as someone who is simply suffering from a low mood. Depression can cause people to lose energy have difficulty sleeping or sleep more than usual. Depression affects a person’s behaviour, feelings, thoughts and physical health. Since Mrs Smith lost her husband to lung cancer she has lost interest in all activities she once enjoyed, she has withdrawn from family and friends, she neglects her responsibilities and no longer has any interest in her own self-care.

https://resources.beyondblue.org.au/prism/file?token=BL/0647

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/who-does-it-affect/older-people

According to beyond blue at least 10 to 15 percent of the older population will experience either depression and or anxiety. The rates of older people experience both depression and anxiety increase dramatically if the older person resides in a residential aged care facility, the rates of percentage can increase up to at least 35 percent.

There are many negative stereotypes about ageing. Undoubtedly as a person ages their physical, mental and emotional health becomes affected to a degree. Stereotypically speaking as each person ages their mobility is affected often declining quite rapidly. According to the article Brooks and Beggs when indicated the use of analgesics to decrease a patients pain works well to increase the mobilisation of a patient. Unfortunately, stereotypes in today’s society suggest that people who are suffering from depression and anxiety are weak or have character flaws rather than suffering from a debilitating condition It is due to these stereotypes that older people can be more hesitant to seeking professional help when they initially begin to suffer from the signs and symptoms of depression and or anxiety. When analysing this scenario, Mrs Smith is clearly reluctant to reach out for assistance or perhaps even admit to having signs and symptoms of depression due to the negative stereotypes related to the condition.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00002512-199507030-00003

https://www.wsj.com/articles/to-age-well-change-how-you-feel-about-aging-1445220002

REFERENCES

Bagge, E., Brooks, P. (1995) Osteoarthritis in Older Patients. Drugs & Aging 7, 176–183. https://doi.org/10.2165/00002512-199507030-00003

Van-Holton, J., Smeet, T. J. M., Kraats, M.C., Tak, T. T., (2002) The expression of IFN-β in synovial tissue from rheumatoid arthritis patients compared to osteoarthritis and reactive arthritis patients. Arthritis Res Ther 4, 59. http://doi/org/10.1186/ar502.