Please Reply to the following two Discussions

Please Reply to the following two Discussions

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Discussion # 1 to Reply to Jinkee

The Elderly Population

Globally, the elderly population—defined as people 65 and older—is increasing, and by 2060, it's predicted that in the United States, they will account for 24% of the population. (Khan, 2019). This diverse group has particular health issues because of their age, gender, socioeconomic status, and way of life. The paper will discuss the general health of the elderly community, including mortality, morbidity, health behaviors, risk factors, and access barriers. It will also specify a specific health program for health improvement that is required.

Morbidity and Mortality

Chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and dementia are more common in the elderly community. 60% of this group has two or more chronic conditions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Furthermore, this group is more prone to accidents, injuries, and fractures (Khan, 2019). This age group also has higher mortality rates than other age groups, with heart disease and cancer being the leading causes of death.

Health Behaviors

Many older adults suffer from social isolation, depression, and loneliness, which can harm their mental and physical health. Smoking, poor nutrition, and a lack of exercise are also prevalent health behaviors among this group. (Wong, 2020).

Risk Factors

Age, chronic diseases, medication interactions, a lack of physical exercise, and social isolation are all risk factors for the elderly (Wong, 2020).

Barriers to Access

Transportation, financial constraints, a lack of insurance, and limited mobility are all barriers to getting healthcare for older people. Access to health services can also be hampered by language hurdles and difficulties in accessing technology.

Targeted Health Issue

Medication management is a critical targeted health problem for the elderly population. Many older adults take numerous medications, and the chance of medication-related issues, such as adverse drug reactions and drug interactions, increases as the number of medications taken increases (Zhang et al., 2021). The Medication Therapy Management (MTM) program is a health promotion tool that aims to improve medication management in the elderly. A pharmacist or other healthcare expert thoroughly reviews an individual's medication regimen and then makes recommendations to optimize medication use.

Benefits/Downfalls

The MTM program has several advantages, including increased medication adherence, fewer adverse drug reactions and hospitalizations, and better general health outcomes. However, the program may not be available to all older adults due to various barriers, such as a lack of transportation or mobility limitations (Zhang et al., 2021). Furthermore, the program's expense may be a barrier for some people because insurance does not cover it.

Discussion # 2 Reply to Regine

African Americans population

When everyone has equal access to opportunities, resources, and healthcare, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, location, or other societal institutions, health equity has been achieved. Sadly, social and political determinants of health have a negative effect on many communities, the people who live there, and their ability to lead healthy lives. After slavery was abolished, African Americans endured systemic discrimination and persecution for more than 250 years while being forced to live in unfavorable social and physical environments.

The general health of African Americans continues to be unacceptable due to persistent health inequities, which include racism, poverty, inadequate housing, access to good foods, environmental exposure, violence, and criminal justice. The absence of control over the practices and regulations that could address the issues that cause these discrepancies makes matters worse (Noonan et al., 2016). Heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, cancer, malignancy, mental illness, and accidents are a few of the health issues that this population is susceptible to.

 

Homicide fatalities are more likely to involve black guys. Common causes of mortality in the African American community include neonatal and postnatal deaths, diabetes-related deaths, adolescent deaths, heart and stroke-related deaths, kidney-related deaths, and HIV infection-related deaths (Noonan et al. 2016).

Health habits are negatively impacted by poverty, low education, unemployment rates, violence, instability, and environmental exposures (Noonan et al., 2016). Genetic predisposition to diseases, such as HTN, DM, and high cholesterol, which is one of the risk factors, exists in African Americans. The biggest barrier to this population's access to healthcare is low literacy. This leads to low health literacy, and people need health literacy to manage their entire healthcare needs.

 

Policies and programs are necessary to improve access to healthcare services, in addition to providing transportation help and culturally responsive treatment (Noonan et al., 2016). An illustration of this is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), which was signed into law by President Obama in 2021 (Noonan et al., 2016). Eight million African Americans now have access to healthcare thanks to the ACA (Noonan et al., 2016). The disadvantage of this rule was that it increased the strain on a workforce of healthcare personnel who were already overworked.