StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Helping the Elderly - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Sarah and Robert, a retired couple in their seventies, have an annual income of about $21,000 a year. …
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER95% of users find it useful
Helping the Elderly
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Helping the Elderly"

Case Study Scenario: Helping the Elderly Sarah and Robert, a retired couple in their seventies, have an annual income of about $21,000 a year. Sarah is being treated with drugs for heart disease (Adalat, Altrace, Atenolol, Nitrostat, and Zocor), and diabetes (Glyburide), Robert for gout (Allopurinol, Colchicine), blood pressure (Atenolol), anxiety (Alprazolam), and heartburn (Prilosec). Together they spend about $6,500 a year on their drugs, or almost a third of their annual income. Chella, VLBJCAS 24th march 2007 Briefly describe the basic problem addressed in the case study. The Basic problems in this case study are The prescription drug prices are high. This becomes a moral issue when elders are considered as a business source instead of showing them compassion. Most elder people are not covered by insurance companies as they become a liability to them. More, the Insurance companies charge a high premium on the elders as the basic concept in premium calculation is "Greater the age, larger the premium". List and briefly define in your own words the major concepts presented in the textbook that relate to the case study. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Going by this theory, elders are in the stage of self actualization and in this stage, they are not attracted by desires etc. All they need is peace and they will be in a position where they know about themselves clearly. At this stage most of the needs are fulfilled. Relating the theory with the case clearly shows one of the major needs of elders - health. Most of the elders are in need of drugs and medicines to relieve them from their diseases. So medicine also becomes the basic need (food, clothing and shelter) for elders. Most of the drug/medicine businesses are targeted at this basic need of elders. Learned Dependency The elders are in a stage of dependency due to their physical and mental weakness. In this case, both the government and Insurance companies must come to the aid of elders as the elders depend directly on medicine for their survival. Moral Values and Spirituality According to Kohlberg, the stage 6 of moral value relies on government decision to judge a process as right or wrong. Elders probably will be coming in this stage. Explain how you approached the case study, and what assumptions and decisions did you make I approached the case study considering the important people in the case. i.e. Doctors Health care Industry (Drugs) Insurance Companies Government Elders The role of Doctors, Health care Industry (Drugs), Insurance Companies and Government have a direct impact on the life of elders. These key persons must change their attitude and mindset from looking at elders as a revenue source and start helping them in their own ways. The decisions to be taken by doctors are to charge less to elders. The decisions to be taken by health care industry personnel are to provide drugs at a cheap cost to elders. The decisions to be taken by Insurance companies are to charge low premium from elders and compensate them quickly on their medical expenses. The decisions to be taken by Government are to provide tax cut and provisions on high priced medicines to elders. If possible, the Government must distribute them free of cost to elders. Why are prescription drug prices so high The drug prices are tremendously huge. It's no secret that average costs of prescription drugs have raised dramatically in the past decade. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, average retail prices for brand name drugs in the United States more than doubled between 1990 and 2000, from $27 in 1990 to $65 in 2000. The obvious question is: Why One of the major reasons is the advertising cost spent by health care companies. The amount of money that has been spent promoting drugs since the new FDA regulations went into effect is staggering. In 1996, the drug industry spent $791 million on mass media advertising. Four years later, that number more than tripled to $2.5 billion. All told, the U.S. drug industry spent $15.7 billion on advertising in 2000, from running ads in trade journals, to airing commercials on the radio and television, to handing out free samples of new products to doctors. Another reason is there are no scientific standards to analyze the cost effectiveness of drugs. The drug companies through their intermediaries earn huge profits. Also the general notion is by taking drugs, hospitalization costs can be cut down. Is this a moral issue, given the fact that many elderly patients cannot easily afford to pay for their drug therapy Yes, this is a moral issue. To save a life, price of drugs can be brought down drastically. The tradeoff between life and money (Drug price) is huge and most of the elders as given in the case are not affordable to these huge prices of drugs and end up not taking medicine and eventually die in this process. Most elder people are not covered by insurance companies as they become a liability to them. More, the Insurance companies charge a high premium on the elders. Here also money and life comes into picture. So, as a result, elders feel left alone and have a feeling they live because of the medicine and lose their hope as no one is there to help them and die even faster. Should insurance companies and/or government programs, such as Medicare, assume more responsibility in paying for expensive drugs for senior citizens Yes, this is a serious moral issue where government and insurance companies must be more responsible. The Government must enact laws favoring the elder people and make their medical expenses very low when they publish their budgets. The insurance Companies must come out with a low cost plan to cover up the medical expenses of the elder people and the premiums charged must be low. References: Schaie, K.W., & Willis, S. L (2002). Adult Development and Aging, (5th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. www.findarticles.com Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Helping the Elderly Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words”, n.d.)
Helping the Elderly Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1529976-helping-the-elderly
(Helping the Elderly Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 Words)
Helping the Elderly Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 Words. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1529976-helping-the-elderly.
“Helping the Elderly Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1529976-helping-the-elderly.
  • Cited: 1 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Helping the Elderly

Elderly Care and the National Health Services

Aside from physical and mental decline among the elderly, motivation likewise plays a very important role in the decline in this stage.... They have created the Older People's National Service Framework and Champions Toolkit in which there will be the "champions" who will represent the elderly patients by making their presence identified and valued.... As previously stated, the stereotypes and the minority group status of the elderly are being addressed by the NHS....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

The Emory school of nursing

I worked as a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) for a year in a Hospice, Helping the Elderly.... My concept of nursing is caring and helping with the best of your abilities for the sick and injured patients.... My concept of nursing is caring and helping with the best of your abilities for the sick and injured patients.... I want to contribute by bringing healthy newborns into this world, helping them prevent illnesses, and maintaining their health in good conditions....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Businesses and Society

nbsp;… As the discussion stresses the major problem being addressed here is that businesses and the society at large ought to be socially responsible by not charging premium prices for drugs meant for life threatening diseases particularly amongst the elderly.... the elderly people basically survive on their pensions and this may not be much given that in this case.... Against this backdrop, it can be noted that the basic problem addressed is that elderly people remain citizens of their given communities and they should be honoured and cushioned from paying high prices especially on drugs that are meant to save their lives from threatening diseases....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Choosing Tulane University for a Career

I have volunteered in the Jewish club Helping the Elderly and taken substantial time during my summers to lifeguard.... This essay describes the application for admission of students at Tulane University in which he would disclose all the skills and could realize his skills for a career....
2 Pages (500 words) Admission/Application Essay

Challenges and Solutions for Long-Term Care in Aging Populations

he long-term care services both in-house and in the healthcare facilities are associated with medical care but they have an emphasis on Helping the Elderly with their daily chores which include bathing and preparing meals on the condition that they need this assistance.... Admittedly, the elderly people as they reach the retirement age the society and the government raises a lot of issues concerning their care.... The paper will address the challenges the administrators go through while trying to take care of the elderly population and the skills and the knowledge that they need to deal with challenges....
4 Pages (1000 words) Assignment

What are the boundaries of Christianity

A third act may include Helping the Elderly cross the busy street.... Finally, the doing good Christian doctrine means helping people in their hour of need (Yancey, 1992).... I liked how Kennedy placed importance on defining what is classified as non-Christian issues....
2 Pages (500 words) Assignment

Volunteer Service Learning

One of the most engaging and interesting service activities that a person can undertake is Helping the Elderly.... the elderly occupy a special place in our society, and they act as the link between the previous generation and the current one.... I chose this service activity for the knowledge and wisdom that the elderly share with you work in their home.... the elderly has a lot of experience, and as you work with them, you can get a glimpse of the previous century....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Bronx Elderly Care Charity Organization

This essay presents BECCO which is a local non – profit charity organization with an aim of Helping the Elderly community lives in Bronx, New York City.... The organization was founded in November 2010 by the local community people who decided to come together to help the elderly.... nbsp;… According to the report, Bronx Elderly Care Charity Organization, BECCO has around forty employees who rely on donations and funding to help the elderly in the area....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us