Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

Throughout this course, you have focused on a specific health issue occurring within a specific population. You researched position papers regarding this health concern, and you developed a health policy proposal to positively impact the health of the affected individuals. It is now time to reach a greater audience regarding your policy proposal.Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

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Instructions

Develop a letter to the editor of a peer-reviewed academic or professional nursing journal based on the policy proposal that you created for Assessment 2. Choose from one of the journals on the Ultimate List of Nursing Journals (in the Resources) and go to that journal’s Web site to find out the requirements for submitting a letter to the editor, such as format requirements, topics, and word counts. Make sure you select a nursing journal that covers the topic about which you are going to write. If you want to use another journal that is not on this list, please make sure the journal does address health care, because this is the purpose of the assessment.Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

The goal of your letter is to be informative about the policy that you developed for Assessment 2, while also being persuasive about the need for and benefit of similar policies in other health care settings. The bullet points below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. Be sure that your submission addresses all of them. You may also want to read the Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy Scoring Guide and Guiding Questions: Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy document to better understand how each grading criterion will be assessed.Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

•  Evaluates the current state of the quality of care and outcomes for a specific issue in a target population. Identifies knowledge gaps, unknowns, missing information, unanswered questions, or areas of uncertainty (where further information could improve the evaluation).
  • Look back to the data or scenario you used in Assessment 1 to address this criterion.
•  Analyzes how the current state of the quality of care and outcomes for a specific issue in a target population necessitates health policy development and advocacy. Identifies areas of ambiguity or uncertainty where additional information could help to improve clarity.
•  Justifies why a developed policy will be vital in improving the quality of care and outcomes for a specific issue in a target population. Impartially considers other perspectives.
•  Advocates for policy development in other care settings with regard to a specific issue in a target population. Acknowledges potential challenges to policy development.
•  Analyzes the ways in which interprofessional aspects of a developed policy will support efficient and effective achievement of desired outcomes for the target population. Identifies areas of ambiguity or uncertainty where additional information could help to improve clarity.
• Communicates in a professional and persuasive manner, writing content clearly and logically with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Identifies specific strategies or approaches used to ensure clear communication.
•  Integrates relevant sources to support assertions, correctly formatting citations and references. Citations are free from all errors.

Example Assessment: You may use the assessment example, linked in the Assessment Example section of the Resources, to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like.

Additional Requirements

The submission requirements for your editorial will depend on the journal you choose. To find out the requirements, go to the journal\’s Web site. There should be a section regarding submissions that will address how to format letters to the editor, and whether there is a word count limit (there usually is a limit).Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

• If the journal does not have submission guidelines for the number of resources required, use 3–5 sources.
• To be sure that your instructor knows the submission and formatting requirements for your letter, include the journal\’s guidelines on a separate page at the end of the document you submit for this assessment.Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

Suggested Resources

The resources provided here are optional. You may use other resources of your choice to prepare for this assessment; however, you will need to ensure that they are appropriate, credible, and valid. The MSN Program Library Research Guide can help direct your research, and the Supplemental Resources and Research Resources, both linked from the left navigation menu in your courseroom, provide additional resources to help support you.Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

Current State for Quality of Care for Elderly Population with Dementia

The current state for quality of care for the elderly population with dementia in the US is wanting as several challenges including late detection and high cost for nursing homes and Medicare insurance hinders the efforts of healthcare access to this vulnerable population. Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.According to Meier et al. (2017), more than two-thirds of all elderly people with long-stay in nursing homes across US suffer from Dementia. This means that the healthcare system has to absorb these cases and the condition is not a one-off disease as most patients have to be managed for their lifetime. As such, many elderly patients with dementia do not get the proper care that they deserve emanating from poor reporting of the cases, lack of collaborative approach to the management and treatment or late detection for the condition.Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

The Necessity of Health Policy Development for Dementia in Old Age

Several policies have been put in place to deal with the effects of dementia. Since the signing of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act into law back in 2011 and the introduction of the US Alzheimer National Plan later on in 2012, the policies that have followed over the years have failed to recognize the complexities of dementia in aged population and the need for interprofessional approach in dealing with the condition. Therefore, this creates the necessity to have a policy in place that will recognize the importance of interprofessional collaboration, and as well provide the guidelines in regard to the processes and manner of collaboration when dealing with dementia in aged population.Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

Improving the Quality of Care in Treating Elderly Patients with Dementia

The proposed policy adoption requires that the dementia cases involving the elderly be dealt with in an interprofessional collaboration approach that will ensure that the patients underlying problems emanating from dementia are taken care of by a team of diverse professionals to ensure proper management, good health and prolonged life for the patient (Keogh et al., 2018).Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population. Dementia is also misunderstood especially in old age and many patients in that state are left to suffer or take time to be diagnosed due to the environments that they live in. As such, the policy introduces mandatory reporting of dementia cases be it from the home-based care, Elderly group homes/nursing homes or in a health facility. This will ensure that the data keeps the track of the existing patients and their progress can be monitored making it easy for the interprofessional teams to manage the cases in time. The health facilities, care facilities as well as home-based care are expected to take a similar approach of incorporating the interprofessional collaboration due to the diverse needs that range from counseling and guidance, managing injuries, personal hygiene, dieting and exercise, body therapy, as well as speech therapy.Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

How the Policy will Support Achievement of Desired Outcomes

The proposed policy application and implementation will require an all-round approach, right from the government in terms of coordinating programs and offering national and inter-state guidelines on the implementation process, the professionals on developing credible teams, the facilities on providing an environment that is conducive for interprofessional collaboration and the community on knowledge application and being aware of the steps to undertake when encountered with dementia cases (Morgan et al., 2019). If everyone takes their mandate as spelt out by the proposed policy, the desired outcomes of improved quality care, health improvement for the patients and prolonged life will be a reality in the overall healthcare needs for the elderly population with dementia.Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

Policy Development Advocacy

This policy provides a whole new approach to the management and treatment of dementia in aged population. As such, through community knowledge, the dementia cases will be reported and diagnosed earlier for proper intervention. For the care facilities, the spirit of interprofessional collaboration will be elevated and the collaboration willingness fostered, a situation that will go a long way in improving the quality of healthcare being disseminated and a cost-effective approach, specifically to the elderly population suffering from dementia (Lin et al., 2019). Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

Introduction

The rising population of aged people is increasing across the globe posing a challenge for the healthcare sector in dealing with associated aging health issues. One such health issue is assisting the dementia patients who most of the times comprise of the aged population. Dementia is a progressive deterioration of cognitive functioning which characterizes memory loss, poor judgement, reduced learning capacity and sometimes experiencing difficulty in speech (Dahlke et al., 2017). The ageing population is ranked among the vulnerable groups and as such, it demands for interprofessional collaboration approach when dealing with health issues that this population faces. Developing an all-inclusive plan that involves defined roles of the interprofessional team in facilitating improvements of dementia patients is key in improving the health of the patient and in offering top quality patient care in and outside the healthcare facilities (Dahlke et al., 2017). This essay is a position analysis paper that explains the approach, healthcare outcomes, challenges, as well as assumptions of the interprofessional collaboration when it comes to dementia in aged population.Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

The Interprofessional Health Outcomes and Plan Assumptions for Aged Population with Dementia

According to Warren (2016), the interprofessional approach is the best collaborative approach among the dynamic professionals when it comes to handling dementia cases among the aged. The health outcome behind this approach ins building independence among the affected population, as well as prolonging life through preventive measures that eliminate key incidences such as injuries and disability that is mostly associated with aged people with dementia. A planed collaborative approach that will bring together professionals across the board targeting the dementia patients will be crucial in ensuring that this vulnerable population is well catered for in terms of their health needs. This will require also collaborating with care facilities that deal with aged population as well as community in making sure that dementia cases are identified and taken care of by the help of interprofessional in time.Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

The statistics show that dementia condition is common among the aged population which is 65 years and above. As He et al., (2016) cites, the aged global population with those above 65 years will account for over 15% of the whole population by the year 2050. According to the US Census Bureau, the aged population above 65 in the US is over 50 million by 2020, and this number is expected to soar to over 80 million by 2040 (He et al., 2016). With these statistics in place, the health sector and especially the involved professionals in the area of dementia treatment and management must deviate ways to work together in a professional manner in order to cater for the health and psychological needs of the mentioned population. As the numbers of aged population increases, the assumptions of increased number of dementia patients going into the future is also true and thus proper prior planning is necessary both for the health facilities in terms of resources and knowledge for the dementia management, especially in interprofessional teamwork among the professionals.     Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

The Role and Challenges of The Interprofessional Team in Facilitating Improvements for Aged People with Dementia

Dementia involves a broad range of conditions, key among them being the Alzheimer’s disease which accounts for over 70% of the dementia cases. With the magnitude of the complications that the dementia disease poses, this calls for a specific demand intervention of complementary collaborative approach among the diverse professionals to enable the most comprehensive possible patient care for those suffering from the disease. The specific professionals in this setting involves the physicians, counselors, nurses, therapists, speech pathologists, dieticians, social workers, as well as psychiatrists. These professionals must work together in a well established and planned manner in order to achieve what is best for the specific patients.Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

Every professional has a role to play according their profession and being guided by the established professional standards and the laid down policies. The willingness and professionalism must exhibit the course of the inter professional collaboration in order to meet the set goals. Dementia in aging also brings closer the caretakers who among them are the family members. Respecting the personal opinions, culture and beliefs is key in achieving the maximum benefit and treatment and management process for the affected patient and their families. This is one gesture that each professional is expected to observe in carrying out their roles (Dahlke et al., 2017).Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

Nevertheless, dementia treatment and management involve a range of activities key among them being counseling and guidance of family members and the patient where applicable, managing injuries, personal hygiene, dieting and exercise, body therapy, as well as speech therapy. As such, each professional within the team is bestowed to undertake the area in line with their profession and exercise their professionalism with all that pertains to offer the best care management for the patient. This must also be in line with the established team protocols to ensure that the team executes the care management in its best ability to achieve comprehensive care management that is beneficial and specific to the patient.Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

However, teamwork is expected to face a number of challenges, especially when dealing with dementia among the aged. To begin with, the aged people are sometimes impatient and thus require a lot of patience when dealing with them. This will reduce conflict and improve the patient’s overall treatment experience (Ali &Bokharey, 2016). Another challenge might be misinformation either due to poor line of communication or lack of willingness to share. This can be solved by establishing clear lines of communication, as well as encouraging information sharing among the team members.

What’s more, different patients come from different backgrounds and their culture and belief differ from one patient to the other. As such, the team members are sometimes caught in between ethics and law, or between culture and medical procedures. At this point, its good enough for the team to make a stand which best fits the patients care and as well respects their culture and beliefs. Moreover, information sharing poses a number of challenges key among them being privacy and confidentiality (Ali &Bokharey, 2016). The team must therefore establish protocols for information sharing and as well protect data loss or theft that might compromise the confidentiality and privacy of the obtained patient information.  Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

Evaluation of The Evidence and Positions of Others That Could Support A Team\’S Approach

Team approach or what is popularly referred to as interprofessional collaboration is a treatment and management methodology that continues to gain ground all in the quest of providing the best management and treatment care for the patient. Health institutions are burning the midnight oil in ensuring that there exist teams of professionals that are able to coordinate and handle various operational tasks within the facilities or in a homebased care setting on a daily basis. As such, the teamwork spirit has received adoption with scholars alike conducting research and offering expert opinions on the benefits behind the interprofessional collaboration.Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

According to Körner, et al., (2016), Knowledge integration, teamwork and performance in health care is the best approach that can be applied in order to achieve the most beneficial comprehensive patient care and management. Teamwork has emerged to be the best healthcare approach for disseminating care for the patients through enabled information sharing which speeds up the treatment and management processes, consequently saving costs and time and as well improving the service quality. On the other hand, Dahlke et al., (2017) cites that interprofessional teams’ collaboration is the best approach for the care of older adults experiencing cognitive challenges. Lee, Hillier & Weston (2014) also holds a similar view in that, interprofessional teams offer always emerge successful when managing patients dealing with poor memory. Therefore, from the above scholars’ views, the interprofessional approach in terms of collaboration stands among the best professional approaches that should be adopted when it comes to dementia management and treatment among the aged.Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

Evaluation of The Evidence and Positions of Others That Are Contrary to A Team\’S Approach

As the teamwork attracts opinions from both ends, it shares a contrary opinion on its ineffectiveness in application, especially in healthcare settings. Nevertheless, its condemnation does not hold much weight due to conflicting data and against what is known across the sector of the importance of building a team. Conflict among the team members, leadership failure, poor communication, delayed decision making, slow adoption to change and diverse professional code of conducts are cited among the cons to the collaborative approach and teamwork by interprofessional within the healthcare sector.Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

Scholarly works contrary to the success of teams have been minimal. As cited by Brock, et al., (2017) there has been more emphasis on team building and approach, but most of them end unsuccessful. Brock, et al., (2017) argues that the formation stage of the team is key and skills instruments applied to select team membership should be appropriate as when constituting many teams fail on these areas and end up being unsuccessful. Brock, et al., (2017) discourages teamwork only on these grounds but this is not a weighty matter to dismiss the whole teamwork process. On another contrary opinion, Cha, Park & Lee (2014) hold the view that teamwork is not a perfect option as it is mostly affected by team members psychological proximity, especially on the team overall performance compared to situations where professionals work independently. This conclusion was made from a single profession (IT Professionals) and thus may lack applicability across the sectors especially in the healthcare setting that calls for collaboration of several professionals like the situation on managing elderly suffering from dementia.Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.

Conclusion

Dementia is a complex condition that demands interprofessional approach. A comprehensive plan is proposed where there should be put in place a collaborative approach that will ensure all the stakeholders such as elderly care homes, the government, community and healthcare facilities come together and embrace the interprofessional approach in coping with the rising cases of dementia especially in the US. With the rising aged population, the cases are projected to rise too and getting an early plan and adopting an interprofessional approach will ensure that the healthcare sector is not caught unaware and the cases are established and taken care of in time, to improve the health status of the affected. The interprofessional approach in dealing with dementia in ageing is therefore the most appropriate approach in assisting the aged population as a vulnerable group.Interprofessional Approach for Dementia in Aging Population.