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| Nursing homes are embracing technology. Care networks are being used in nursing homes in which the nurses and residents wear a device that interacts with sensors throughout the home. It alerts nurses if someone falls or if an at risk resident is trying to get out of bed. The system also records information about how prompt the nurses are at responding and how long they spend with the resident, ensuring a higher quality of care. Computer games are also being used to provide recreation for the elderly & for early detection of any possible declines (4). Nursing homes are even going as far as to use Wiis to promote balance in their at risk population. The physical demands of the game allow the residents to improve their balance (7). The key to the baby boom generation is that for technology to be effective it has to be accessible (4) | Nursing homes are embracing technology. Care networks are being used in nursing homes in which the nurses and residents wear a device that interacts with sensors throughout the home. It alerts nurses if someone falls or if an at risk resident is trying to get out of bed. The system also records information about how prompt the nurses are at responding and how long they spend with the resident, ensuring a higher quality of care. Computer games are also being used to provide recreation for the elderly & for early detection of any possible declines (4). Nursing homes are even going as far as to use Wiis to promote balance in their at risk population. The physical demands of the game allow the residents to improve their balance (7). The key to the baby boom generation is that for technology to be effective it has to be accessible (4) | ||
Revision as of 23:59, 28 October 2011
Contents |
The Baby Boomers and Substance Abuse
There has been lots of research done on substance abuse in teen and adult years, but little research has been done on the use and misuse of drugs and alcohol in the elderly. Currently, the elderly population only holds a small percentage of people; however this number is growing drastically as the baby boomers reach elderly age (Dowling, Weiss & Condon, 2007). Every generation has alcoholics and drug addicts; however the problem seems much more prevalent in the baby boom generation because of such a large cohort of people entering their senior years. There is little information on how to diagnose and treat elderly individuals with substance abuse problems, a reason why many cases of abuse have gone unnoticed. However treatment costs are skyrocketing because of this massive population that is increasingly more dependent on drugs, prescription medication and alcohol. It is because of this aging population, that substance abuse in the elderly is an increasing problem in our society today.
The Baby Boomers and Technology
Baby Boomers
The baby boomers are an extremely large group of individuals born between, 1946-1965(6). The first people from this generation are becoming senior citizens and with a huge number of people to follow the aging baby boomers pose many challenges (2). Simply put the aging baby boomers will mean an increase in demand for healthcare and an increase in the need for long term care facilities (2,1). We simply do not have the resources to meet these strains on our current systems to we have to look for other solutions to these problems. One possible solution is technology. Previous generations of senior citizens have been afraid of and opposed to technology (3); however, the boomers are characterised as a very different generation (6,2,3).The baby boomers are healthier (2,5), demanding (5), wealthy, educated (6) and most importantly do not fit previous stereotypes about senior citizens and technology (3). The baby boomers were the first generation to be brought up with televisions & other profound technological advances (3). Furthermore, the baby boomers are not anxious about using technology and have the experience with it to allow them to feel at ease (3). How will technology influence the aging baby boomers?
Technology to Keep Boomers at Home Longer
The baby boomers want to remain in their own homes, doing the same activities that they have been doing all of their lives (6). With the shortage of long term housing and the financial squeeze the boomers will place on the healthcare system, we have to make aging in place a reality (1,2, 4). Aging in place means remaining where you have lived for a long time, not in a nursing home, with the use of technology as your health conditions change (1) .Financially this is vital, to rework an individual’s home, to include the necessary technology, costs only 40% of the total cost of nursing home care (6).
Smart Homes
Smart homes are an automated environment that uses technology to allow comfort and independence (1,4). Smart homes can include an announcement system that informs the elderly individual of the day, time, appointments, and daily tasks (1). Seniors can also wear special shirts in their home that monitor vital signs, or pacemakers and allow physicians to monitor the individual (1). Devices that shut off the stove or running water can also help patients who suffer from dementia (4)
Medication Systems
A common problem for seniors is to remember to take their pills at the right time and in the right amount. Technologists have created automated dispensers that dispense only the proper amount, dispensers with locks have been created for people with dementia, and virtual pets have been created that prompt seniors to take their pills (1,5) These virtual pets get sick if their owners fail to follow their medication regime (1,5).
Computers
Computers are allowing seniors to do their shopping and banking from home (4), which helps them cope with mobility issues. Seniors also often feel isolated in their homes and the internet has provided solutions for this. There are now multiple seniors’ networks that allows seniors to interact through emails, blogs, and forums (1,4). The internet has made it possible for seniors living at home to interact with the outside world
Benefits
Technology that allows seniors to remain in their home allows them to feel empowered, capable, involved in their own health care, and engaged in the world around them (1). Technology use leads to fewer hospital visits and shorter stays at hospitals and nursing homes (2), benefiting not only the senior but also the healthcare system.
Technology in Nursing Homes
Nursing homes are embracing technology. Care networks are being used in nursing homes in which the nurses and residents wear a device that interacts with sensors throughout the home. It alerts nurses if someone falls or if an at risk resident is trying to get out of bed. The system also records information about how prompt the nurses are at responding and how long they spend with the resident, ensuring a higher quality of care. Computer games are also being used to provide recreation for the elderly & for early detection of any possible declines (4). Nursing homes are even going as far as to use Wiis to promote balance in their at risk population. The physical demands of the game allow the residents to improve their balance (7). The key to the baby boom generation is that for technology to be effective it has to be accessible (4)
Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors of Aging Baby-Boomers
Human sexuality is the opportunity to experience an emotional closeness with another, as well as being an essential human right (1). The baby-boomers grew up during the sexual revolution, a time that promoted freedom of sexual expression and exploration. Contraceptives were released in the early 1960’s which increased the number of couples practicing premarital sex, and the expansion of pornography cinemas and PlayBoy clubs in the late 1960’s made sex publically accessible (2).
This year, the first boomers turn 65, and for the next 20 years it is predicted that this large cohort will take their sexual attitudes and behaviors along with them into late adulthood (3). Despite Baby-Boomers being more likely to participate in sexual activities than previous generations, we can still expect a decline in sexual activity in late adulthood. This can be due to a lack of partner in late adulthood or poor health. However, a more common cause of decreased sexual activity in the elderly population is from the lack of privacy or basic sexuality training care providers receive in nursing homes (4). With Baby-Boomer’s bringing their attitudes from the sexual liberation with them, long-term care facilities for the elderly will have to accommodate to their needs.
Dating
Many reasons why sexual behaviors decrease in later adulthood is due to lack of partner. With over half of all marriages ending in divorce before a couple’s 30th anniversary (5), more elderly adults find themselves single in later adulthood with dating as a reasonable option.
About one third of the internet is used for sexual related websites (6), and with the expansion of the internet in the last few decades, the elder population is finding dating sites and online sex chat rooms a useful option (7). With this increasing demand, websites have been created to target single seniors (SeniorNet.com, 4Seniors.com, ThirdAge.com, etc.) (8). Sexual habits are also being prolonged into later adulthood due to sexual enhancing drugs that have been developed to treat erectile dysfunction disorder (9).
Risky Behavior
In a study by News Week Magazine, single Baby-Boomers reported more likely to engage in unprotected sex after a first date in fear of thinking their sexual prime was over, therefore likely to take the chance if the opportunity presented itself (14). Another reason being post-menopause, there is no longer the risk of getting pregnant (15). The Public Agency of Canada reported a rise in number of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) found in the elderly population over the last few years, with only 50% of these elder sexually-active singletons worried about contracting an STD (15).
[http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/23340559/ns/today-relationships/t/lust-or-bust-inside-baby-boomer-bedroom Lust or bust? Inside the baby boomer bedroom Dr. Laura Berman looks at the challenges facing couples in this generation]
Elder Sexuality in Long-Term Care Facilities
There seems to be varying views within care providers of the importance of sexual behavior in older adulthood. Care providers with little experience working in nursing homes express more negative views, viewing sexuality in older age as disturbing, and therefore making it their job to intervene any sort of sexual expression. Many of these nursing homes implement open door policies, and were found to have more single rather than double beds (7). However, the ideas of sexuality in older adulthood are changing, and positive views are becoming more common throughout long-term care facilities. More recently, it is being recognized that older people have sexual needs and it is an essential component to maintaining one’s mental and physical health (7). Nursing homes with a more positive view have staff undergo sexuality training, and have rules in place protecting the privacy of residents. These included providing residents with a “do not disturb” sign they can hang on their door, safe must knock before entering the residents’ rooms, or even organizing call girls for some of the younger residents (7). Since sexual activities may also impose safety concerns, such as contracting an STD, or when one suffers from dementia (16), some care facilities hold sexual health seminars and provide counseling to educate residents on safe sex practices and issues (1).
In 2010, a survey was conducted in the United States to uncover the sex lives of elderly in institutionalized care. Over three quarters of residences from age 57-64, over half of 65-74 year olds, and a third of those 75-85 years old remained sexually active (ranging from intercourse, oral sex, masturbation, etc.)(10). Even though this number decreased with age, it shows sexuality is still a priority in later adulthood and often remains over looked.
Same-Sex Couples
With the legalization of same sex marriage in 2005 (17), same-sex couples are becoming more common in nursing home environments. The Gay Rights Movement during the 1970s, which gave liberations to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities, gave homosexual Baby Boomers pride instead of embarrassment, and therefore care providers will have to be sensitive to their resident’s sexual orientation (11). Still, many care facilities are not homosexual friendly, portraying images of heterosexual couples on pamphlets, or terminology used by staff with the assumption that residents are straight (12). Only 24% of health care providers report receiving any homophobia training in their workplace (12). Lack of knowledge and training on such an issue has resulted in 81% of LGBT couples reluctant to reside in nursing homes (13). Many face isolation in a nursing home centre, and are more likely to develop depression or commit suicide (18). Recently, many urban areas are developing LGBT Aging projects with the purpose to educate care facilities on how to better integrate the needs of the LGBT elder community (18).
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