By : Lamiaa Moustafa Elbosaty
Many families care for their elders with very little outside support and a lack of awareness of existing social programs. Family caregivers are often so isolated from support systems that they are not aware such support is needed until they become exhausted (Swanson & Carnahan, 2007).
Family persons providing care for the patient with dementia should familiarize themselves with services offered by community agencies. Some of these services are geared to meet the patient's need, while other addresses the need of the family caregivers. The availability of these services will vary from community to community, as will costs and funding sources (Gauglar, et al., 2003).
An estimated 10 million American needed long-term care in 2000 (Rogers & Komisar, 2003). Most but not all persons in need of long-term care are elderly. Approximately 63% are persons aged 65 and older, the remaining 37% are 64 years of age and younger (Gibson & Writer, 2008). By 2050, the number of individuals using paid long-term care services in any setting (e.g., at home, residential care such as assisted living, or skilled nursing facilities) will likely double from the 13 million using services in 2000, to 27 million people, this estimate is influenced by growth in the population of older people in need of care (USDHHS & US Department of Labor, 2003).
In Egypt, the healthcare systems have largely ignored the needs of the elderly, there are only sporadic programmes to care for the elderly, mainly initiated by the community or within the private sector. Those above 65 years old represent 4.4% of Egypt's population, and there are 34 old people's homes for over a million elderly people and some of these homes have waiting lists of over 1000 persons (Okasha, 2004).
The long term care differs from other types of health care in that the goal of long term care is not to cure an illness, but to allow an individual to attain and maintain an optimal level of functioning. Its income passes a wide area of medical, social, person, and supportive and specialized housing services needed by individuals who have lost some capacity for self-care because of a chronic illness or disabling condition (Schulz & Matire, 2004).
The number of dementia people residing within the community is steadily increasing. Community services can alleviate the burden experienced by families, but are used infrequently by family of demented persons. Older and less educated caregivers had higher levels of uncertainly about service availability. Depressed caregivers were less likely to know about service availability (Collins et al., 2001).
Posts
No Response to "COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES"
Post a Comment