Health Report
Name
Institution
Date
Well Elder Health Teaching Project
INTRODUCTION.
Aging people have a challenge when it comes to coping with the diverse changes within their bodies and for this reason they need a guide to direct them overcome these rising challenges. The main aim of the Well Elder Teaching project is to help the aged ensure that their physical , mental, psychological and social aspects are at equilibrium so that they have a fulfilling, healthy and productive life. They have to know the Do’s and Don’ts that concern their health.
The wellness inventory is designed in such a way that it encompasses all the four dimensions of holistic wellness. It is from this wellness inventory that challenges that face the client shall be identified and measures for intervening established.
When developing the teaching strategy we put into consideration the cognitive inadequacy of the client so as to ensure that we compensated for both the cognitive and physical needs of resulting from the aging process.
We followed the stipulated principles of elderly teaching for the client which are:
I. Approach the client in a respectful manner so as to promote openness when communicating and asking for clarification.
II. Classes to be scheduled in the morning when energy levels are still high.
III. Content to be delivered should be relevant to their daily to their daily social, physical and emotional environment only.
IV. Use of simple, clear and few words as possible.
V. More time to be allowed with the client so that there would be more synthesizing of the information delivered.
Wellness Inventory
General Health and Psychological Status.
M.M is 70 years old retried mailman who lives in Texas with his 30 year old son. He states that is health is good for a person of his age and the only medical problem he has got he has got diabetes mellitus type since he was 40 years. He has been living with Diabetes mellitus type II for the past 30 years of his life. When we asked M.M the normal glucose levels to test his diabetic awareness knowledge he stated that he didn’t know the normal parameters, this posed a great challenge because he can’t be able to monitor his blood glucose levels at home by himself. He is therefore forced to make frequent visits to the hospital to have his blood glucose levels checked and monitored. M.M also stated that he also can’t use a glucometer to test his blood sugar levels.
He states that he gets tired easily of late and has added extra pounds of weight in the past few months also. We established that M.M is not engaged in a lot of physical activities. He is an active smoker who does 3 cigarettes a day. He doesn’t take alcohol. His family has history of cancer. There is a great home safety at his place of residence with minimum fall risk. M.M claims that he has adequate sleep every day and has no trouble getting to sleep. He states that he is content with life and he is a baseball super fan and a diehard Red sox fan. He goes to watch the Red sox play with his friends a couple of times.
Skin.
M.M claims that he has noted his skin gets dry easily with time and for this reason he oils it regularly to compensate for the dryness. He says that his wounds also heal slowly and poorly this is explained by the fact that he is diabetic which affects his wound healing process.
Hair.
M.M states that he has not noted any hair loss over the past few years and his hair is evenly distributed all over his skull. He shampoos his hair on daily occasion.
Nails.
M.M cuts his nails and states that he prefers them short because they appear neat that way.
Head, neck, ears, eyes, nose and throat.
M.M states that he does not experience any facial pain and he moves his head and neck well without any difficulties or pain. He however expresses changes in vision, he says he at times sees floating spots and his vision is blurred, this indicates diabetic retinopathy. His hearing and smell is fine.
He however experiences allergic attacks at times and he has a dry cough which is nonproductive, this could be as a results of smoking and his advanced age also worsens it. He does not report any dryness of mouth or difficulty in swallowing dry foods or speaking continuously for a long time. He does not wear any dentures.
Cardiovascular and respiratory.
M.M states that he experiences difficulties in breathing and shortness of breath whenever he gets the allergic attacks. He says that he however suspects could be as a result of smoking, this makes him unable to perform strenuous tasks because he loses his breath.
He also reports incidences when he has mild headaches, fatigue and dizziness at times. M.M could be predisposed to hypertension and is pre hypertensive at the moment as a result of nicotine intake from cigarettes. On his frequent visits to the clinic his blood pressure has been found slightly elevated on quite a number of times.
Gastrointestinal and urinary.
M.M states that’s he takes a balanced diet which his son is so keen to observe because of his medical condition. He doesn’t have a high intake of sugars. He takes small but frequent meals. He notes that he has added weight. He says that he doesn’t have any intolerances in diet. He takes both prescribed and over the counter medications. M.M says that his fluid intake is satisfactory since he takes approximately 1.5 liters of fluids daily. He says that he has 2 bowel movements on average per day which is quite normal for an adult.
Musculoskeletal and Neurological.
M.M reports that he has lost height to aging. His bones are also quite strong since M.M does not get any fractures as he stated to us. He rarely exercises or engages or engages in physical activities. He has no history of seizures or any neurological conditions. He has occasional tingling numbness and paresthesia in his lower limbs which is associated to diabetes.
Endocrine/Hematological/Immunological.
M.M is not depressed. He has increased thirst, appetite, fatigue and urination. He immunity is also quite active and strong since he doesn’t catch many opportunistic infections.
Teaching session.
Judging by M.M’s responses to the wellness inventory we had come up with, we established that he has knowledge deficit regarding the management of diabetes and his complications which were evidenced by M.M ‘s failure to even know the normal parameters of blood sugar levels. Our first objective was for M.M to know how to correctly and safely use the glucometer to monitor his blood sugar levels, when to perform the check and be able to correctly read and interpret his test results. Our aim in this was for M.M to be able to check his blood sugar levels two times a day as recommended by Mayo clinic and why it was important (Mayo Clinic)
We then met at M.M’s house on a scheduled date. We started with a discussion about self-monitoring of blood sugar levels and its advantages. We gave a chance to bring forward his perception concerning the matter and that way we were able to incorporate our teaching on self-monitoring of blood sugar levels by use of a glucometer so as to save him the hustle of having to visit the hospital regularly to have his condition monitored. One point that clearly stood out of this open forum with M.M was that he didn’t need to burden himself with all the knowledge about diabetes and its management at his age since he had a reliable healthcare provider who could take care of this task for him. He was also not even aware of the possible complication of diabetes.
We then went ahead and explained the whole procedure step by step on how to use a glucometer to test blood sugar levels. We had downloaded a print out with pictures to aid him understand the process better and some tutorial videos demonstrating how to use a glucometer and interpret the result. We laid out all the items we need for this procedure which were; a glucometer, sterile prickers, sterile alcohol based swabs and a notebook to chart his readings. we then went into the details of the procedure step by step as follows:
I. Obtain a glucometer and test strips.
II. Read the materials and instructions that come with the device.
III. Test the glucometer before using it.
IV. Wash your hands thoroughly, including the area where you are going to draw out blood from.
V. Place alcohol onto the cotton ball or swab.
VI. Place the test strip on the slot provided on the glucometer.
VII. Swab the area you are going to draw out blood from with the alcohol based swab or cotton ball.
VIII. Wait for the read out to out your blood sample on the test strip.
IX. Prick the area you selected to obtain your sample using the prickers or a sterile needle.
X. Place the drop on the test strip.
XI. Wait for results.
XII. Read and record your results.
We also showed M.M a you tube video tutorial of the procedure. After watching the video together we then demonstrated how to use a glucometer to check our own blood sugar levels and interpret the results. M.M then did a return demonstration to us and we were satisfied that he had understood d the entire procedure well.
We then provided M.M with a printed chart of the blood sugar reference values which he was supposed to use to compare his test results and be able to interpret them. M.M did this and we were satisfied with ho he was able to interpret his test results.
We had earlier noted that M.M was not well aware of the possible complication that usually arise from diabetes. We explained to M.M that diabetes could affects ones eye sight and vision since it can cause glaucoma, cataracts, retinopathy or macula edema. We suggested that he should take occasional visits to an optician to have his vision checked for any complications that could arise. We also explained to M.M that the occasional numbness and paresthesia he experienced at times is a complication of is diabetic condition and this could be managed by ensuring that his blood sugar levels were well maintained and also taking additional medications to ease the pain. We also stated to M.M that diabetes also affects wound healing and that why his wounds healed slowly and poorly (Page 56, Perry).
Our second objective for the teaching was for M.M to explain to us why it is not good to smoke for him according to Center for Disease Control and prevention. We engaged him in a discussion again and explained to him the side effects of cigarette smoking which were the risk of developing either coronary heart disease, stroke, lung cancer according to CDC fact file (Center of disease and control)
Our third objective was to ensure M.M embraced fitness. He didn’t engage in much of physical activities and this posed a challenge to his health status and present medical condition.
Assessment.
M.M seemed very happy and grateful throughout our teaching session. Overall it was a very great experience. We made sure we made M.M comfortable, active and engaged throughout the entire discussion about how to use the glucometer to measure his blood sugar levels, interpret his results correctly and also be able to chart his recordings accurately. He greatly appreciated us for taking the initiative to make him aware about the possible complications of diabetes and learn how to manage some of them on his own. He assured us that he would always be on the lookout for any signs and symptoms that suggest he was he was developing either of the complications.
Concerning his smoking habit he promised to join a self-help group which would help him quit the habit. We thought it would be best if addressed these issues that we had identified at his home since it was comfortable and convenient for both M.M and us.
We used You Tube video tutorials to help M.M understand how to use the glucometer well, accurately and safely. He was also able to read the test results of his blood glucose levels and interpret them correctly while comparing them to the range of the parameters we had provided him with earlier.
We had M.M put up the procedure printout we had provided him with earlier and the blood glucose level on the walls of his study room to help whenever he had to reference anything.
The return demonstration he did to us during our session ensured that M.M understood to follow all the steps of using a glucometer correctly to monitor his blood sugar levels and his condition.
About 4 days after our teaching session with M.M we paid a visit to his residence to see if he had implemented anything that we taught him. He informed us that he had been able to appropriately use the glucometer to twice every day to check his blood sugar levels.
He had also joined a self-help group in his locality and he had done two days now without smoking. The dry coughs that he used to experience earlier were also beginning to disappear. He stated that he was feeling healthy generally.
M.M stated to us that he now visits the gym for one hour each day with his 30 year old son. He also takes walks in the evening in the park accompanied by his son’s dog. He says that he is beginning to love his new lifestyle. He gets shortness of breath with time but we assured him that with this would stop since he would get accustomed to this new lifestyle and his body would be able to tolerate more physical activities.
He thanked us for being so helpful to him and he said he would create awareness of what he had learned from us and to his friends.
Assessment of our teaching experience.
M.M was very interested in what we had to offer him. It wasn’t difficult to start the teaching session because M.M was so eager to hear what we had to offer him and he was also so cooperative.
The use of multiple was so helpful to our client to learn, internalize the various concepts we delivered to him and be able appropriately apply them.
CONCULUTION
After the teaching was conducted, Assessment would then follow so as to check on how well the client understood the topic.
Self-Assessment should also be conducted by an individual so as to improve the content one delivers. Findings from the project will help in making informed decisions concerning the training of the aging in the community.
REFERENCES
America Diabetic Association.http://www.diabetes,org/living-with-diabetes/complications.
Clinic mayo. Blood sugar testing: Why, when and how retrieved from http:www.mayoclinic.org/diseases
Potter, P., & Perry, A. (2013). Fundamentals of nursing (9th Ed.). St Louis: Mosby
