Week 10: Barriers and Facilitators to Healthy Aging and Promoting Healthy Aging Flashcards
Perceived Barriers to Healthy Aging (Highest vs. Lowest)
Respondents ranked twelve perceived barriers to healthy aging from one (most important) to five (least important).
Multi-morbidity, or living with two or more chronic conditions= the highest ranked barrier to healthy aging.
End of life planning= the lowest.
*multimorbidity important factor of healthy aging, aging itself
Social Comparison Theory (Upward vs. Downward)
-Process through which people come to know themselves by evaluating their own attitudes, abilities, and beliefs in comparison with others relates to self-evaluations and self-enhancement.
Upward comparison: Comparison to someone who appears to have things better. “You are better than me.” *causes self-improvement motivation
Downward comparison: Comparison to someone who appears to have things worse. “I feel sorry for you.”
*affects self-esteem and attempt to avoid failure
5 Types of Barriers
- Physical
- Social
- Emotional
- Spiritual
- Environmental
Physical Barriers
-age
-advanced age
-gender/sex (males more likely to engage in programs)
-comorbidities
-addiction
-medical events
*Involves exercise/nutrition/sleep/illness
Social Barriers
-Illness and Disability
-Loss of contact with friends/relatives
-Lack of supportive community
-Lack of acceptable social opportunities
-Less access to quality relationships
-Physical and Cognitive limitations
-Personal responsibilities
-Transportation
*Involves personal relationships and meaningful activity, barriers= loneliness and social isolation
Case Example: Aging and Driving
-75% of 65+ are on the road (3.25 million) and over 200,000 for 85+
-Every 2 years > 80+ years – vision + written test, education about new traffic laws, cognitive tests
-Changes to vision, reflexes, and hearing as you are older
-Individuals 70+ more likely to crash than drivers ages 25 and younger
-More likely to have severe injuries or death when crashing
-On average, people usually drive 7-10 years longer than they should
-Loss of autonomy
*Does that mean no one over 65 years old should drive? NO
Emotional and Spiritual Barriers
-self-esteem, self-knowledge, coping skills
-nature and meaning of one’s life, balancing what can and cannot be changed, religious beliefs/religion
*Self-esteem drops off in older age
Environmental Barriers
- Housing
- Income
- Transportation and mobility
- Services (health, dental, vision, hearing, recreation, food)
Other examples: Low Income, Accessibility, Education, Safety, Community Design, Transportation, Services, Programs Available, Assisted Living
8 Primary Facilitators
- Healthy Diet
-Eating well can help people meet their energy and nutrient needs and may help prevent chronic diseases. - Physical Activity
-Regular exercise can help people live longer and better= and may reduce the risk of chronic conditions like heart disease and dementia. - Mental Well-being
-Maintaining balance, connecting with others, and being prepared for challenges can help with mental well-being. - Social Support
-Social support and encouragement can help people age healthily.
5.Preventive Health and Safety
-Regular checkups, immunizations, screenings, and checking for vision and hearing loss can help with preventive health and safety. - Acceptance of Aging
-Accepting aging can help people make lifestyle decisions that consider their physical and social situation. - Multimodal Interventions
-Incorporating physical activity, intellectual engagement, emotional control, social interaction, and meaning can help with healthy aging. - Economic Autonomy
-Increasing access to economic autonomy can help people age healthily.
Health Promotion in Healthy Aging
-Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over & improve their health by developing their resources to maintain or enhance well-being. Health promoting is an action for health using knowledge, communication & understanding (WHO, 2012)
-How? Complementing existing health promotion programs to ensure they are adequately meeting the needs of older adults, especially vulnerable populations
Healthy Aging Framework Around National Prevention Strategy (5 ways to help with healthy aging)
- Identify what matters most for patient in all aspects of healthy aging and focus on it
- Engage patient when developing action plan for healthy aging
- Provide patient with education, support and resources
- Coach virtually or in-person
- Revise advance directives/care planning
Ted Talk
-arguably most amazing thing society has accomplished is almost doubling life expectancy in last century
-healthcare system hasn’t changed for different patients (avg. 27 year old when started Medicare, older population average patient now)
-healthcare system and community we live in must adapt
-elder friendly communities important
-as we age, we want to age in place and stay independent
-make communities “age-friendly”, larger fonts/signs, more accessibility, better park benches (arm rests?)
Age-Friendly Communities
An age-friendly community is one that responds to both the opportunities and challenges of an aging population by creating physical and social environments that support independent active living and enable older people to continue contributing to all aspects of community life.
8 different domains we need to improve for age-friendly community
- Transportation
- Housing
- Social participation
- Respect and social inclusion
- Civic participation and employment
- Communication and information
- Community support and health service
- Outdoor spaces and buildings
Aging in Place Program Plan
Includes improving safety, health, connection and standards
*to not be hospitalized or go into long term care home, stay in their home
