Families Dealing with Diabetes in the Care of Elders - Essay Example

Research Paper. al Affiliation) Health Issue Diabetes certainly has one of the pronounced emotional effects upon the families and especially those with a close relationship with the elderly who suffer from this disease. Various factors related to the caring of this diabetic elderly can contribute to anxiety. The paper, therefore, look at some of the things that the family members pass through when caring the elderly affected by the disease. Additionally, the paper looks at the causes of stress and mechanism, which help in beating and dealing with the anxiety effects. Diagnosis of the disease is one stressful event that the family tends to undergo. The elderly people that have been diagnosed with diabetes normally go through grief phases and the families equally share some of the stresses (“American Diabetes Association complete guide to diabetes”, 2006). There are various mechanisms and techniques, which might assist the family to accept the disease, and this is important for people who are close to the elderly with diabetes. The topic is important to the population because it will give an insight on how they need to handle the issues in case it appears. I choose this topic because the issue directly and indirectly affects 80% of the American families. Therefore, the topic will help the family on how to cope and accept the disease among us. Additionally, the paper will provide diagnosis and treatment of the disease. This is because when diabetes is properly managed; it will help in preventing complications like amputation and blindness. Issue of Concern The topic is an issue of concern because diabetes among the elderly is a lifestyle disease Therefore, when a person is diagnosed with the disease; his lifestyle will change and thus will pose crucial medical challenges. This challenge tends to have an impact on the entire family. Additionally, when a family is diagnosed with the disease, always an emotional stress affects the family. The family member gets stress as they assist in planning the new meals and management of the medication. Children tend to feel anxious about the rapid changes in the routines of family including visits by the medical practitioners. Such changes include the expanded exercise and the monitoring of glucose intake. Additionally, the affected families tend to suffer from challenges in communication (“Dealing with diabetes.” 2005). The family with elderly adults suffering from the disease feels compelled to offer regular reminders on how they need to eat, exercise, and take medications. This cause the elderly suffered to feel nagged and scolded. The communication sometimes disintegrates the members of the family to find new mechanism in communication about the diabetic issue. The diabetic issues also add the financial stress to the members of the family. With or even without the insurance fee, the medical bills tend to be overwhelming. According to the American Diabetes Association, people with diabetes spend more than 4100 dollars annually on medical costs compared to those without. One or more of the family members might be forced to taking extra time job to cover the expenses to cater for the elderly patients. Nursing Interventions As a Community Health Nurse, I would introduce the affected families on counseling and education on how to cope up the issue. First, I will tell them to encourage the elderly and sick to exercise. This is because it is always believed that exercising is one of the necessary treatment regimens for patients who are diagnosed with diabetes. Research work has always supported the exercise on controlling the blood sugar. This has been proved to reduce the risk of long-term complications like kidney damage and loss of sensitivity on hands and feet. Additionally, the American Heart Association has recommended the elders to exercise weekly. The new guidelines from the association states that it is advisable to exercise an increment of 10 minutes, which might be easy for the patient to attain in their life, compared to having half an hour exercise block. This recommendation is well advocate to people that deal with diabetes. As a nurse, I would also encourage the families to speak with their health care providers before coming up with a program. A personal trainers with experience needs to be consulted to monitor and come up with program that are tailored in meeting the needs of the patients. As one of the Diabetes care, I will recommend the families to feed the patients with the snacks before heading for an exercise (“Dealing with diabetes.” 2000). To properly gauge the response of the blood sugar, the families need to encourage the seen to schedule their exercise same time daily. Additionally, a community health nurse I will tell the affected families to seek questions on how the patients fears and feels. This is because it is always difficult for the patients to share their feeling of jealousy, guilt, and fear. Therefore, the family need to show affection to the elders by asking questions of how they feel. Conventional, I would teach them on diabetes; this will be helpful because it will calm their fears especially among the kids. I would also teach the family members about other things. After dinner is the best time to teach them, this will help the family members that they are living with the disease and their life is not all about diabetes. Subsequently, as Community Health Nurse, I would come up with programs that help the family reduce the fear and stress when dealing with the disease among the elderly. Implications and Recommendations Diabetes tends to affects an estimation of 26 million Americans. It touches millions of friends and family members. Therefore, supporting the elderly with diabetes can be very challenging for the caregiver and the elderly who receive the treatment. It is crucial to note that living illness such as diabetes is overwhelming. One of the greatest impacts for the families that are affected by diabetes is impact of grief and emotional impact. Therefore, as a Community Health Nurse, now and in future, the moment memories for the diagnosis of diabetes will not be a profound one. The moments of recalling when they heard the element of diabetes will become mild. Dealing with the diagnosis of the diabetes disease has always been compared to grief experience among the affected people. My implications as community health nurse will the families to come with terms with diagnosis of the disease. The family members need to come up with guidelines in coping with the disease. This includes the emotional effect of grief and diagnosis, mechanisms of coping with its and coming up with cognitive behavioral therapy. The affected families need to come up counseling and education on how to cope up the issue. The elders are also to exercise (“Tips for Elderly with diabetes.” 2007). This is because it is always believed that exercising is one of the necessary treatment regimens for patients who are diagnosed with diabetes. Research work has always supported the exercise on controlling the blood sugar. This has been proved to reduce the risk of long-term complications like kidney damage and loss of sensitivity on hands and feet. Additionally, the American Heart Association has recommended the elders to exercise weekly. I would also encourage the families to speak with their health care providers before coming up with a program. I will recommend the families to feed the patients with the snacks before heading for an exercise. To properly gauge the response of the blood sugar, the families need to encourage the seen to schedule their exercise same time daily. The families also need to come up with programs that will reduce the fear and stress when dealing with the disease among the elderly (Vieira, 2010). Reference American Diabetes Association complete guide to diabetes (4th Ed.). (2006). New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books. Dealing with diabetes. (2000). Bethesda, Md.: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health. Dealing with diabetes. (2005). Bethesda, Md.: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health. Tips for Elderly with diabetes (Rev. Nov. 2007. Ed.). (2007). Bethesda, Md: National Diabetes Education Program. Vieira, G. (2010). Dealing with diabetes burnout: how to recharge and get back on track when you feel frustrated and overwhelmed living with diabetes. New York: New York. Read More