Community Health Advocacy Project - Part One
NUR/544
Community Health Advocacy Project - Part One
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The Merck Company Foundation (2007) by 2030 there will be 71 million older adults in America, who will account for about 29% of the United States population. This demographic shift will increase the nation’s health care spending by 25%. With a shortage of health professionals trained in geriatric care, the needs of this aggregate population will have to be addressed in more innovative ways. The following is a discussion about the elderly population, some of the health concerns this population faces as well as some questions for consideration to help identify potential areas of strength and need for this population which will be the focus of a community health advocacy project.
The aggregate population targeted for this advocacy project is the elderly population, which is defined as older adults 65 years and older with a focus on minority elders in America. The life expectancy rate for this age group is increasing and is projected to double from 40.2 million in 2010 to more than 80 million by 2050. The cost of providing health care to this population is three to five times higher than the cost of health care for someone younger than 65 years (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The Merck Company Foundation, 2007). The major concern for this aggregate population is their increased need for more health care resources than the rest of the population. According to Dilworth-Anderson, Pierre, and Hilliard (2012), “older minority Americans have consistently been shown to have worse health than whites of the same age group across measures of disease, disability, and self-assessed health” (p. 26). Compared to White elderly Americans, Latinos have a higher rate of diabetes and African Americans have more chronic conditions. Elderly Americans are struggling with chronic conditions...