Comprehensive Health Assessment On An Elderly Client
Table of Contents
This is the beginning
To sum up,
Cites
Introduction
Beginning statement: This paper will examine the topic of introduction.
World Health Organization, 1948. Health is defined as “the complete state on the physical, psychological, and socio-cultural wellbeing of an individual, not just the absence or presence of any disease or disability.” Comprehensive health assessments can reveal how a person’s health has changed in response to changing circumstances, such as stress levels and internal systems. Comprehensive health assessments include six components.
An assessment can help determine the underlying cause of a person’s physical or mental health. A developmental assessment can also tell if the person has reached the milestone. The nutritional assessment will determine the person’s nutritional status and how it affects their health. The spiritual, cultural, and psychosocial assessments all influence one another. The cultural beliefs affect the spiritual, psychosocial and stress-coping behaviors. David, a 75-year old man, had suffered a stroke three month ago. A nurse conducted an interview and performed a physical exam. She would then discuss with David the nutritional and psychosocial aspects of his stroke. The nurse observed David and made a simple conversion with him. Although he was conscious, he suffered right-side hemiplegia. He also had slurred words. He could not walk without the quadripod, and it was hard for others to communicate with him. The psychosocial component. Referring to ‘Psychosocial Analysis in Mental Health’, it is clear that both internal and externe factors can affect the psychosocial side of the mental health. David’s poor physical health meant that he was more likely to suffer from psychosocial problems. He needed help to live his day and even take care himself. He was feeling like a burden to his family. This is why he moved in with the residents of a nursing home. His self-concept had an impact on his psychosocial well-being. David had negative thoughts and low self-esteem. His mind-body spirit was also linked. David’s psychosocial well-being was also affected by outside factors. He was transferred to a nursing home. He felt stressed by the change in environment. He had to adjust to his new surroundings and new neighbors. David expressed his dissatisfaction with the residents of the nursing homes. He may be more stressed about adapting to a new environment. For walking, he required the aids of a walking stick. He couldn’t move very well without them. He didn’t like to participate in group activities. He didn’t have the ability to form a close friendship with his residents. He became less optimistic. David left home and lost the social bonds and emotional support he had with his family. He didn’t have hope and emotional support when he was suffering from problems or was unhappy. His appetite was affected and he lost weight. This directly affected his physical and psychosocial health. David was admitted to the nursing facility in spite of the possibility that his family might not be able to support him. David’s family visits David every day. He said that his family loved to sing hymns and read the Bible to him. This made him feel relaxed and happy. David could be visited by his family and receive both social and emotional support. His family could influence his psychosocial wellbeing. David’s stress level can be assessed using Hospital Stress Ratings Scales. The hospital environment was identical to the one at the nursing home. The scales assessed different aspects such as the emotional or social. According to Measuring Hospital Stress: STRESS: RATING SKALE (Meissner E. Judith.1980), ‘This assessment lets you focus upon one patient’s individual stressors. The nurses could use the scales for this purpose to help David overcome his stressors. The second part of the assessment was nutritional. David seemed very thin, weak and tired according to interviews. He was suffering from a swallowing problem, and could not eat puree after his stroke three months back. Because of the changes in the food texture, he had difficulty adjusting to the purée diet. He went from a solid to a puree diet, which caused him to lose his appetite. He had to take longer to finish his meal than before. He also had to add the thickener powder to his water. Swallowing problems affected nutritional intake as well as absorption. This was the reason David lost weight in two months. He was also unable to eat the puree diet because the texture of the food had changed. He was unable to eat solid food and was unable to eat puree. David shared with the nurse his nutritional history. To assess David’s health, the nurse used skin thickness and body mass index. David was found to have a problem with his nutrition. David, a traditional Chinese-speaking man, was not able to eat by the nurses at the nursing home. David complained of abdominal discomfort and had to change his bowel habits. Constipation could possibly be the reason for abdominal distention. He indicated that he had altered his bowel habits. He kept his bowels open every three days and had hard stool. Fluid absorption and diet reduction both affected the nutritional intake. Another reason that he lost weight was this. The nurse performed an abdominal assessment to determine the cause of David’s abdominal distention. First, the nurse examined David’s abdomen contour. The nurse examined David’s abdomen and found that it was flat, symmetrical, and had no scars. She used a stethoscope and a microphone to determine the pitch of each bowel movement. The high-pitched sound was heard and the duration was around 20 seconds. The next was percussion. After percussion, she heard a tympanic noise. The results of auscultation, percussion, and constipation are discussed in the book ‘Interpreting signs and Symptoms’. Finally, the nurse performed the light palpation and drew a clock tracing the clock from right to left quadrant. David’s abdomen was tender, with no rigidity, tenderness or guarding. It had not been possible to feel any mass. She then used deep palpation. The nurse felt a mass in her left lower quadrant when she touched it. David also screamed and complained of pain. The assessment of David showed that he had colon cancer. This could have been the reason David suffered from loss of weight, decreased appetite, altered bowel habits, and lots of bloody mucus in his poo. These six components are crucial to maintaining a healthy body. To maintain health, all components must work together. Human development will be affected if any component is not met. David was a victim of stroke attack before. His daily life has changed significantly since three months ago. He was unable to care for himself so he went into a nursing home. He couldn’t adjust to his surroundings. He also didn’t receive enough support. This is what led to David’s current physical illness. David can be supported spiritually by the nurse, who will read and sing the Bible. It may be beneficial to provide spiritual support for David, which could help him to have a better and more positive view on the psychosocial side. It could help David achieve a better and more healthy physical state. Cites
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Interpreting symptoms and signs. United States, America: Wolters Kluwer, 2007.
https://books.google.com.hk/books?id=PcARTQwHLpIC&dq=percussion+constipation&hl=zh-TW&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Meissner, E., Judith. Measuring patient stress with The Hospital: STRES: RATING SCALE. Bucks County Community College, located in Newtown, Pennsylvania, was established in 1980.
https://web-b-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.lib.ouhk.edu.hk/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=30d78691-4d14-4466-8230-5a3bf152e855%40pdc-v-sessmgr02
Nicola Moone & Steve Trenoweth. Psychosocial assessment of mental health. Bournemouth: SAGE Publications Ltd. 2017.
https://books.google.com.hk/books?id=S2YCDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT57&dq=psychosocial+assessment+internal+and+external&hl=zh-TW&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi2lIHarNTtAhWjL6YKHSpWD0IQ6AEwAHoECAIQAg#v=onepage&q=psychosocial%20assessment%20internal%20and%20external&f=false
World Health Organization (WHO), WHO is committed to the principles outlined in the Constitution’s preamble. 2020
https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/constitution
