Ambulatory Care, Long Term Care, and Mental Health Services

Question Description

  1. Given the increasing longevity of Americans and the costs of providing long-term care, anticipation of the costs should be a major element of every family’s financial planning. Current information suggests however, that very few families or individuals give this consideration. What factors might impede this advance planning? What measures might be effective in raising awareness among Americans about this important matter?
  2. Identify the major factors that have resulted in the shift in utilization from inpatient hospitalization to ambulatory care services. What are the implications of this shift for hospitals, consumers, and the health care delivery system as a whole?
  3. The recipients of mental health services in the US represent only a small percentage of those in need of services. Discuss the factors that impede access to mental illness treatment.

Please submit one APA formatted paper between 1400 – 1500 words, not including the title and reference page. The assignment should have a minimum of five scholarly sources, in addition to the textbook. Here is my answer I need you to help rephrase this entire paper

Factors Impeding Advance Planning

Long-term care expenses institute one of the main uninsured financial risks facing the aging in the United States and thus play a central role in determining the retirement security of elderly Americans. Long-term care is a comprehensive umbrella term for an extensive range of supportive and health service for individuals whose physical and/or mental impairments do not allow them to independently perform basic functions of daily living. (Brown & Finkelstein, 2011). Given the growing longevity of Americans and the expenses of providing long-term care, the expectation of the cost should be a major factor of every family’s financial planning. Presently very few families or individuals give this attention because of various factors. Some of the factors that might obstruct the planning by families or individuals include cost, denial, and confusion

The cost of health insurance and long-term care is one of the toughest financial challenges that most aging adult and their families are facing presently. The families of the older adult, in this present generation, are mostly indebted since this is a generation where most people eat up their savings instead of storing it. Such dept incurred are mostly due to home mortgages, cost of college, either for themselves or children and sometimes buying latest cars or some other expensive lifestyle which does not give room for planning for the future care of the aging in our families. According to Caplinger (2013), for many individuals of the aging population, Medicare coverage is a key factor in being able to afford health care costs that would otherwise quickly sap their retirement savings. So looking at what it will cost to care for an older adult at times put individual or families in denial.

Families and individual are sometimes in denial and believe that there is still enough time and room to plan for the aging. Families or individuals also fail to realize that some aging individual experience chronic illness and that sometimes disabilities correlating with advancement in age. Some individuals see planning for aging as not good because they believe they are planning for their death, as a result, might impede the advance financial planning by families or individuals.

Families and individuals requiring long-term health care service for the aging may just be too confused to plan in advance. At times confusion could be due to lack of adequate information from healthcare providers. People age differently with different challenges which might require some different form of care, therefore care for the older adult is configured and packaged to meet and maintain a particular lifestyle quality. Planning in advance for long-term healthcare which might involve facilities, health insurance, provider, social worker, therapist, nurse, nutritionist, and several others could constitute confusion and stress for families and individuals requiring long-term health care service for the aging (Sultz & Young 2011).

Some measures might be effective in raising awareness among Americans about advance planning regarding the provision of long-term care for the older adult. Each time healthcare providers meet with the patients, a part of that meeting should be used in educating the patients about planning in advance for healthcare services at old age. Communities and the various organizations, such as AARP, Caregiver Action Network, and so many others providing health care services, should encourage and promote the need for individuals and their families to have clearly mapped out a plan of how they want to receive care in when they become old.

Factors Responsible For Shift From Inpatient To Ambulatory Care Sevices

Outpatient/ ambulatory care are health care centers that care for a patient who requires less invasive procedures, minimum treatment, with no overnight visit, while inpatient health care centers are facilities that can provide invasive procedures and overnight stay for the patient. Recently there has been a shift in utilization from inpatient hospitalization to ambulatory care services due to some major factors. Some of the factors responsible for the shift from inpatient to outpatient healthcare services are cost, accessibility, and quality of care.

The cost of inpatient healthcare is high compared to outpatient healthcare services for the patient and healthcare insurance. The unnecessary cost incurred during inpatient hospitalization has become a bygone story. For example, the cost of hospitalization can be high because of passing the night in the hospital where overnight monitoring is not required. Patient without life threating sickness or health issues can sleep comfortably in their homes. Some patient can go to work before going to the hospital to receive the necessary treatment from their healthcare providers, thereby being productive and lessening the cost of treatment. In addition, some outpatient center also provides patients with some free medical diagnoses such as eye check, cancer, A1c and several others.

Advancement in technology has been a major contributor to the shift from inpatient to outpatient healthcare services. Presently technology has enhanced growth in the healthcare industry, most especially in the outpatient healthcare center, where less invasive surgical procedures such as cataract section, arthroscope gastric bypass, and many others can now be done on in outpatient health care centers. The growth of outpatient has made healthcare delivery system to become more accessible to the patients, so patients may not need to drive far and go through much protocol for the lest medical issues before receiving care.

Most hospitals are spreading out into the community as outpatient healthcare centers. These special centers regularly provide patients with good quality treatment through their special services.The outpatient special centers have providers who are specialized in a particular specialty providing care, therefore improve patient outcome by proving the quality of care patients are receiving has Special services include cancer treatment, kidney dialysis center, diagnostic imagining and several others.

Factors Impeding Access To Mental Illness Treatment

Psychiatric illness affects peoples functional level, it is a range of condition that can disturb the mind, thinking, and behavior. The delivery system is multifaceted, encircling a diversity of distinct care systems at both the institutional and community levels: main care, long-term care, mental health services, and aging network services. These numerous systems work on different principles and include breaches and disconnections in services. Under such conditions, a negative outcome may predominate, and opposition rather than cooperation embodies the system. For example, organizations may reduce their care to existing consumers rather than accept those who may “belong” to some other system (Hanson, Kerkhoff, & Bush, 2009).Thus recipients of mental health services in the US represent only a small percentage of those in need of services as a result of stigma, communication, and information on how to get help.

There is a need to address the mental health needs of ethnic and other minorities. Members of ethnic smaller groups are less inclined than whites to seek medication and to use outpatient treatment services, and there is an insufficient number of mental health professionals from ethnic minority groups. Furthermore, language barriers exist in many programs, possibly leading to inadequate services. Asking household members or other contacts to act as interpreters’ increases the person’s vulnerability, compromises their confidentiality and can hinder a full and open discussion of the individual’s mental health needs (Shaffer & Kipp, 2014).

Many old people do not identify their own mental health needs or do not know how to contact and use the service delivery structure. Family members who recognize and find out about psychiatric problem among their family member usually try as much as possible to hide it because they are so ashamed and can not stand the stigma in the society (Sultz & Young, 2011). And those who live alone, are geographically isolated, frail or physically challenged have particular difficulty accessing services, which tend to be in short supply. Older adults often use their primary healthcare providers as a point of admission, but too many primary healthcare providers are not effectively equipped to identify mental health needs or refer patient to right resources for help.

In conclusion, the growing long life of Americans and the costs of providing long-term care, the expectancy of the cost should be a major component of every family’s financial planning. currently, very few families or individuals give this attention because of various factors. Some of the factors that might impede the advance planning by families or individuals include cost, denial, and confusion. Recently there has been a change in operation from inpatient hospitalization to ambulatory care services due to some major factors. Some of the factors responsible for the shift from inpatient to outpatient healthcare services are cost, accessibility, and quality of care. Lastly, recipients of mental health services in the Unites State signify only a minor portion of those in need of services as a result of stigma, communication, and information.

References

Brown, J. R., & Finkelstein, A. (2011). Insuring Long-Term Care in the United States. Journal Of Economic Perspectives25(4), 119-142. doi:10.1257/jep.25.4.119

Caplinger, D. (2013, May 14th). Medicare explained: Understanding the basics from part a to part.Daily Finance. Retrieved from: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2018/02/12/medicare-ex…

Hanson, S. L., Kerkhoff, T. R., & Bush, S. S. (2009). Health cares ethics for psychologists. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Shaffer, D. R., & Kipp, K. (2014). Developmental psychology. Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Sultz, H. A., & Young, K. A. (2011). Healthcare USA: Understanding its organization and delivery (7th ed.). Boston: Jones & Bartlett

 
Do you need a similar assignment done for you from scratch? We have qualified writers to help you. We assure you an A+ quality paper that is free from plagiarism. Order now for an Amazing Discount!
Use Discount Code "Newclient" for a 15% Discount!

NB: We do not resell papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.