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 important 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 elderly 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 to choose 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. Such services should accessible and free so that individuals can take the initiative of visiting health centers at any time and get information related to different diseases or their symptoms. Vulnerable population members are educated through training, courses and support groups. Policies, systems, and the environment also play a significant role in health promotion as they ensure that healthy choices are available to the citizens (Boutaugh et al., 2014). One of the theories used in health promotion and disease prevention is a health belief model which is applicable in predicting changes in the health of individuals from a particular population. The model analyzes factors such as perceived susceptibility and benefits of taking specific actions.

The numbers of elderly citizens have been increasing hence the rise in the health care expenditures. Eleven percent of the GDP is spent on health care, and one third is spent on the population of those aged above 65 years (Boutaugh et al., 2014). The most common diseases among the elderly are pneumonia and influenza, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, and heart diseases.  The elderly population experiences a shortage of disease prevention care as well as minimum rates of health insurance covers. The quality of health services offered depends on economic resources; therefore, the minority in the population receive fewer quality services as compared to their diverse group counterparts.

Epidemiology concepts in nursing are the concepts in health related to the challenges in health driving the medical professional to make certain decision related to the health challenge. The concepts include diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic decisions.  Diagnostic concept entail 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.

The data that they collect about the disease is analyzed using various data analysis tools such as the R programming where they get the specifics of the disease and the challenges that the disease is bringing. The method used in analyzing the data is determined by the challenges that the disease brings and how medical professionals want to handle the disease (Dulin et al., 2012). Data were collected on the challenges faced by the elderly. The data showed that they face challenges in accessing medical care. The method and tool used must be useful in providing the best parameters to deal with the challenge. The results from the data analysis determine the measures that the nurses will take in dealing with the challenge. Database regarding the disease might be formed to store the statics and conclusions of the disease that will help in dealing with the problem in case it reappears.

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 (Dulin et al., 2012). 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 (Dulin et al., 2012). 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.

Various health initiatives have been put in place to help the vulnerable in the society which includes the elderly. The elderly face multiple challenges in terms of health because their bodies are weak. The main health concerns among the elderly are that they do not get urgent medical attention whenever they require medical attention (Dulin et al., 2012). Majority of the senior citizens don’t have health insurance, and therefore they face challenges in getting health services. The health initiative put in place to help the elderly is to insure them so that they can access medical services whenever they require them.

The populations that are affected by the disease are diverse, and therefore they also need to be analyzed to understand the risks that exist in the communities in terms of being able to be affected by the disease epidemic. After the health professionals understand the disease from the data collected, they can come up with initiatives to control the disease (Dulin et al., 2012). Different statistical methods may be used to be able to come up with an exact situation from the affected communities. The more data is collected about the epidemic disease, the more trends; hence the medical professionals can know how to handle the challenge.  If there is an error in handling the disease, then the medics will not be able to control a particular disease.

To address the health of millions of senior citizens especially in managing chronic illnesses, the health care system must be improved. This includes improved medical care, and clinical procedures that the patient needs. For the patients who are not able to go to the health facilities to get treated, home or community interventions are effective. In this case the health care practitioners visit the patients and discuss with them together with their families on the measures that help in controlling their health. An example of an evidence based initiative for the elderly is Falls Free Initiative. To manage chronic diseases among the elderly, Chronic Disease Self-Management program is the best.

References

Dulin, M. F., Tapp, H., Smith, H. A., de Hernandez, B. U., Coffman, M. J., Ludden, T., … & Furuseth, O. J. (2012). A trans-disciplinary approach to the evaluation of social determinants of health in a Hispanic population. BMC Public Health, 12(1), 769.

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.