There are various stages in the life of a human being. They include the fetus, infancy, toddler, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, middle age, and old age. The various stages of life have different healthcare needs. For instance, as people grow older, they have more healthcare needs compared to when they were younger (Wyman et al., 2018). Their immune system is weakened, making them more susceptible to health conditions. This means they interact with the healthcare system more (Uchino & Rook, 2020). This paper explores the stages of life and the influence of age on healthcare. It also involves an interview with a 50-year-old uncle and their experience with the healthcare system.
The 50-year-old male interviewed is an uncle recently diagnosed with high blood pressure. The first question was if he feels that his stage of life affects his interaction with health care professionals. According to him, his age significantly impacts how he interacts with the healthcare system. He is involved in the decision-making process, and the healthcare professionals consult him before conducting any procedure. This differs from when he was younger when his parents had to be consulted and make decisions on our behalf. At his age, he can also raise several concerns, which will be resolved as the healthcare providers seek to ensure that he is comfortable.
The second question involved asking which hospital area was most concerned with his well-being and feelings. According to him, the nurses in the hospital were concerned about how he felt. Some nurses took their time to chat with him and reassure him that he would be okay. One of the nurses prayed with him and spent time listening to him talk about how he felt and asking him how they could make the hospital experience better for him.
The third question involved how supportive the family was during this hospital experience. According to him, the family was overbearing and made too much fuss over him even when he felt like there was nothing to worry about. However, he felt taken care of and did not mind so much. He enjoyed being surrounded by people who cared for him and made every effort to make him comfortable. He thinks that the family plays a crucial role in patient support, and they make the hospital experience easier.
The final question involved the family’s involvement in the treatment and if they were involved in education and post-procedure instructions. According to the interviewee, the family was involved in the process. Although he could understand the instructions alone, they took part in patient education and learned how to take care of the patient at home. They now encourage him to maintain a healthy weight, cut back on salt, follow the diet advised by the health care professional, exercise regularly, and break his smoking habit. Family plays a huge role in patient recovery by providing an environment conducive to healing (Foulis et al., 2022). The interviewee also feels that the family will always play a crucial role in a patient’s treatment regardless of an individual’s age.
References
Foulis, S. J., Rigby, K., Loftus, A., Satchidanand, N., & Holmes, D. (2022). Patient-centered addiction medicine: What patients say helps them the most in their recovery-the role of whole-person Healthcare and prayer in opioid addiction recovery. Current Psychology, pp. 1–12. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-022-03060-8
Uchino, B. N., & Rook, K. S. (2020). Emotions, relationships, health, and illness into old age. Maturitas, 139, 42-48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2020.05.014
Wyman, M. F., Shiovitz-Ezra, S., & Bengel, J. (2018). Ageism in the health care system: Providers, patients, and systems. In Contemporary perspectives on ageism (pp. 193-212). Springer, Cham. https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/27836/1002169.pdf?sequence=1#page=219
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