In America, for example, the population consists of people of different religions, culture, beliefs, and values. Nurses working in different health centers have to be conversant with the diversities in various fields and learn how to cope with them. The aged are a vulnerable group hence the need for strategizing on ways of overcoming the challenges that nurses face when offering services to such group of individuals. This is important because despite the race or religion or the age of a person they are entitled to quality health hence the need for health promotion through measures such as diseases prevention.

When handing prevention among the elderly, it is essential to establish a definition of health and promotion and ascertain whether and implement programs based on the definition. Primary and tertiary preventive strategies are effective in elderly members of the population as compared to the young(Boutaugh et al., 2014). The challenge that the old face is covering of the costs from Medicare and the reimbursable services for prevention of diseases such as pneumonia and prevention of hepatitis B is limited.

The purpose of promoting health by preventing diseases is to assist vulnerable populations in choosing behaviors that are healthy and decrease the chances of developing chronic diseases (Boutaugh et al., 2014). In health, promotion communication is one of the principles which helps in creating awareness about the need to taking necessary measures that will help reduce developing particular diseases.Some of the strategies utilized in disease prevention and health promotion is encouraging the senior members of the society to engage in discussion with health providers so that they get more knowledge on symptoms, conditions and how they can be prevented.

Approximately 70 million Americans aged 50 years and above suffer at least one chronic disease. More than half of the senior citizens have more than one of the diseases with one in for having high cholesterol levels. Approximately 15% of the older adults have diabetes with the number rising by more than 50% between 1997and 2006 (DeVol et al. 2007). The rise in the number of chronic illness among the older Americans has an impact economically since the Medicare beneficiaries with five and above chronic conditions have increased from 30% in 1987 to approximately 50% in 2002. In Hawthorne community where there is an estimate of 100,000 people approximately 244 died of cardiovascular disease from 2012 to 2016. 28.9% died of lung cancer, and 31.7% of chronic pulmonary disease in the same period.

Epidemiology concepts in nursing are the concepts in health related to the challenges in health driving the medical professional to make a particular decision related to the health challenge(Boutaugh et al., 2014). The concepts include diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic decisions.  The diagnostic concept entails identifying the medical challenge affecting the patient. Prognostic entails identifying the challenges that the patient is facing. Therapeutic concepts are concepts of treating diseases. The epidemiology concepts in our case are the concepts related to the aged.

Data was collected from the databases of healthcare institutions and analyzed using various data analysis tools such as the R programming to get the specifics of the disease and the challenges that the disease is bringing. The method used in analyzing the data was determined by the challenges that the disease brings and how medical professionals want to handle the disease (Boutaugh et al., 2014).Data collected on the challenges faced by the elderly showed that a significant number die as a result of cardiovascular disease.

There are legal challenges that influence and guide the activities of health professionals while they are doing their work. The health professional must engage in activities that are against the law in terms of activities that might affect innocent citizens. The state protects the citizens; hence there are laws set to regulate the health professionals in their work(Boutaugh et al., 2014). Where the medical professional engages in activities that contradict the law action can be taken which includes prosecution.

To take care of the health needs of vulnerable members of society such as the elderly, the government should come up with initiatives aimed at ensuring that they can afford quality healthcare. This can be achieved by offering subsidized medical care and undertaking preventive measures such as the use of vaccination to lower the number of people who develop various diseases (Boutaugh et al., 2014). Additionally, the creation of awareness on what those who are susceptible can do to prevent diseases can be effective.

Medical professionals need to study and understand the distribution of the disease and other factors of the disease that they are trying to manage. Every disease has different aspects in terms of how they attack their hosts and how the disease spreads (Boutaugh et al., 2014). Some diseases if they are not managed in good time before they spread can cause serious challenges to control them. Some institutions bring health professionals under one body to coordinate activities while they are trying to solve particular problems. The epidemiological concepts enable the medical professionals to know what kind of data to collect and how to deal with the data to be able to understand the disease that they want to manage.

To reduce the number of deaths fromcardiovascular disease, risk reduction initiative is effective. The main tool used in this approach is cardiovascular risk flow sheet which is used in evaluation, treatment and monitoring the patients ho at risk of suffering from the disease(DeVol et al. 2007). The flow sheet is inserted in the patient’s chart where a health staff can refer to when assessing the risk factors. The sheet is updated regularly in every visit, and the reference guide is designed in a way that facilitates easy documentation of risk factors such as family history, organ damage or smoking. The second page of the sheet contains Framingham primary prevention chart which includes the strategies of preventing the disease in patients whose risk factors are highly evident.

The results are used in establishing both preventive and disease treatment options. To prevent the disease American Heart Association recommendsscreening to those aged 20 years and above (DeVol et al. 2007). If risk factors are established the patients are advised to be tested for fasting serum lipoprotein and fasting blood glucose. It is recommended that the patients be tested at least five years so that the disease can be diagnosed in the early stages. The patient education tool is used in the process to convey relevant information to the patient and help the patients to track their progress by use charts and tables. The education tool contains information such as the treatment plan and the follow-up plan that the patient is encouraged to adhere to strictly.

References

Boutaugh, M. L., Jenkins, S. M., Kulinski, K. P., Lorig, K. R., Ory, M. G., & Smith, M. L. (2014). Closing the disparity gap: The work of the administration on aging. Generations, 38(4), 107–118.

DeVol, R., Bedroussian, A., Charuworn, A., Chatterjee, A., Kim, I., Kim, S., & Klowden, K. (2007). An unhealthy America: The economic burden of chronic disease. Santa Monica, CA: Milken Institute, 326, 2010-2060.

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