Nowadays demographic changes result in the US being an aging society as the rest of the world (Quinn-Szcesuil, 2012). It implies the necessity of additional gerontological health care, long-term care, support programs for the elderly, etc. Economic burden of these changes is accompanied by the shortage of educated professionals and adequate institutions to provide the required help for the aging generation. Still, the current situation seems to be change shortly, according to the approved statistical data. Namely, the number of older people is expected to increase by 135% till 2050 and the number of people aged 85 and over by 350% (Wiener and Tilly, 2002). The proportion of the population of 65 and over is projected to increase from 12,7 % to 20, 3 % in 2050 (Wiener and Tilly, 2002). Therefore, it is crucial to analyze the way care delivery for older people has changed and can be improved in the future.
Several assessments of the National Gerontological Nursing Association foreground that in spite of the fact that the care for the elderly, concerning new medicine and medical procedures has greatly changed, “current workforce today is not prepared to care for the population” (Quinn-Szcesuil, 2012). Health needs of the elderly are very complex due the prevalence of chronic illnesses over acute (Mezey, et al, 2002) and this aspect is taken into consideration in medical educational establishments that prepare healthcare professionals. Still, cultural norms of older people, their ethnical needs, peculiarities of communication play also an indispensible role for an efficient and adequate degontological care (Quinn-Szcesuil, 2012). The census predicts that the ethnical diversity of the elderly population will look as follows by 2030: 72% non-Hispanic white, 11% Hispanic, 10% African American, and 5 % Asian (Quinn-Szcesuil, 2012). Therefore, cultural awareness of the healthcare providers about patient lifestyle, cultural norms, etc. is so important nowadays and will be required in the future. With regard to this aspect of gerontological care, the current situation can be described as satisfactory (Mezey, et al, 2002) and considerably improved in comparison with the previous years (Mezey, et al, 2002).
Older people require more short-time and long-time hospital care than the rest of the population. Such types of care can be also adequately provided for this category of patients. However, such diseases as arthritis (56%), hypertention (55%), urinary incontinence (17%), heart disease (32%) prevail by uninstitutionalized older adults and require either family caregiving or home care by health professionals (Mezey, et al, 2002). This need can be satisfied as well, but in the case of family caregiving, various useful coping strategies can be suggested in order to support caregivers. On the other hand, financial burden of home-care services and other health care service for the elderly can be too high. Nursing homes appear to be possible alternatives for “vulnerable and frail subpopulation of older adults” (Mezey, et al, 2002). Still, in spite of the presence of health care facilities for the elderly, the level of geriatric physicians and nurses does not correspond to the …