Health & Illness in the Older Person

Registered nurses work with individuals, groups and communities to improve health. One way to do this is to analyse how risks to health can be reduced during changes to natural, social and/ or governmental elements in our society. As clinical leaders, registered nurses are expected to collect information about an emerging health risk from a variety of sources and collate this information into a meaningful analysis with recommendations for a specific audience. The audience for these analyses can be the public, older people or carers of older people, or nurses working in a range of practice contexts.
The ability of registered nurses to communicate and educate using a variety of methods is an important skill and responsibility. This assignment provides an opportunity to engage in a patient education exercise commonly used by registered nurses, by developing a risk reduction poster for an identified health risk to older people, targeted at a particular audience, supported by an evidence-based written justification.
In this task you can apply the theoretical knowledge you have gained from your study of modules 1 (demographics & epidemiology of ageing), 2 (changing patterns of disease in older adults & nursing interventions), and 3 (changes to natural, social and/or governmental elements in society).

TASK DESCRIPTION:
There are two parts to this assignment. You must complete both parts.
Part 1 is a one-sided A4 size poster (500 words) that is designed to educate patients about, and reduce the risk of, an identified health risk to older people, and
Part 2 is a written justification (1000 words) that includes evidence to support the information contained in the poster.
The total word allocation for this assignment is 1500 words.

FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR POSTER AND JUSTIFICATION

Part 1 – On your poster you must:

1. Identify a health risk for a specific older adult population (aged over 65 years or over 55 years if Australian First Peoples);
2. Recommend and justify the nursing requirements for older people diagnosed with, or at risk of, complex health conditions and/or cognitive decline associated with this health risk; and
3. Identify changes in the environment (natural, social and governmental) that put at risk the health of older people.

Part 2 – In your justification you must:

1. Provide a rationale and supporting evidence for the selection of the health risk in the specified older adult population, and
2. Justify your selection of the audience, included content, implications for nursing care related to change in environment, and the relevancy of selected poster features for your target audience.
3. Evaluate the implications for nursing care related to changes in the environment (natural, social and governmental) that have an impact on the health of older people

Sample Solution