Social Policy and Theory and Peer Review Journals

Social Policy and Theory and Peer Review Journals

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Social Policy and Theory and Peer Review Journals

Social Policy and Theory

With age comes a high risk for chronic health disorders like diabetes. The disease is common among people aged 65 years and above. Several organizations dealing with health issues have developed diabetes guidelines, legislations and principles that affect the living conditions of aged people affected with diabetes. American Geriatrics Society has specifically designed guidelines for the care of aged people living with diabetes. These guidelines take consideration of the fact that senior people are more prone to developing other coexisting diseases associated with diabetes like heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure and have an increased risk for other common conditions such as harmful falls, depression, overmedication, low mental function and persistent abnormal pain.

It is therefore, the duty of their loved ones to know their diabetic conditions, study their medical records and most importantly give proper care to the diabetic patient (National Institute on Aging, 2010). An example of a summary of guidelines that caretakers must follow to facilitate the well being of diabetic people may include; first, they should get information from medical health centers on the amount of aspirin (81 to 325 mg) recommended for older adults to reduce the risk of low sugar level per day. Secondly, high blood pressure should be treated gradually as older people have a low tolerance for its reduction. To avoid complications, a target blood pressure of less than 130/80 mm Hg should be maintained (Sinclair & Finucane, 2001).

AGS advices family members and any other person involved in the care taking process that senior adults should get an evaluation at every doctor’s visit for any complications such as drug interactions and side effects. This may result from the high intake of several medications to maintain cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar levels. AGS recommends people to seek diabetes education from advocacy bodies like American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Other principles given by the AGS are that senior adults should have regular, foot exams, tests of kidney functioning and eye exams (reduce blindness risk) and get screened for age-related conditions that are more common in older people with diabetes (National Institute on Aging, 2010).

Researchers use social theory to bring the support that health suffering, which provides a framework on the sociopolitical, medical and socio-economic forces, at times causes chronic diseases. One social theory used to support this is the theory of social suffering, which provides a clear distinction between a social and a health problem. The theory also explains the effects of diseases which may affect an individual’s psychology by causing trauma, depression and may sometimes cause patients’ suicide (Scambler, 2012)

Peer Reviewed Journals

Elderly people are more susceptible to illnesses. This means that diabetes related complications are prevalent and harder to manage as they find it hard to exercise and maintain strict diet plans. All diabetes complications can occur within senior adults. However, the cognitive types of diabetes complications are more common amongst the elderly. Treating diabetes amongst senior adults may often have dissimilar objectives to treating the situation in young adults. Some medication offered to young patients may be less suitable to an elderly one, which is why treatment for the aged has to be often adjusted.

According to Jeffrey (2009), the management of older adults with type 2 diabetes requires careful management and contemplation of the effects that changes in advancing age can have on the benefits and risks of therapeutic interventions. This article analyses the factors that predispose elderly type two diabetic patients to Hypoglycemia. They include imparted hepatic metabolism, poor nutrition, increased polypharmacy and noncompliance with medication, Isolation that limits the acquirement of early hypoglycemia treatment and alterations in mental condition that damage the discernment or response to hypoglycemia.

This journal article is important as it provides detailed information on diabetes within senior adults and the strategies used to reduce diabetic complication. For learners carrying out a research on this topic (diabetes within adults), this article will help them get more information on hyperlipidemia, hypertension, glycemic control and the use of B-blockers in older diabetic patients. This article also provides detailed information on the specific interventions for the management of diabetes, which broadens individuals’ understanding of the disease on both pharmacological and lifestyle interventions (Jeffrey, 2009).

More than twenty-six percent of people above 65 years in United States are affected with diabetes mellitus. American Geriatrics Society carried out a consensus to help address the following issues, pathogenesis and epidemiology of diabetes in aged people, issues that needed to be considered when recommending treatment for older adults, consensus recommendations for treating adults at the risk or affected by diabetes and the current guidelines used for treating diabetes within older people. This article can be highly recommended to this research as it gives factual data based on a recent consensus done to determine the prevalence of diabetes in United States (Kirkman, Vannessa & Nathaniel, 2012).

According to Walker, Pharm & Gates (2014), there are certain psychological theories that provide evidence-based explanations as to why certain diseases changes people behavior and their psychology. Psychodamic theory is  one of those phenomenon as it explains the approaches that focus on the interrelationship of motivational, emotional, psyche and mental forces within the mind of a patient  that interact to shape their personality. The theory expounds more on the causes of depression, emotional stress, and low self-esteem among patients. This article is helpful in carrying out the research on diabetic with senior adults as it provides information on psychological changes and theories with associated aging disorders (Gates, Pharm, & Walker 2014).

References:

Gates J., Pharm D & Walker K (2014) Physiological Changes in Older Adults and Their Effect on Diabetes Treatment, Diabetes Spectrum 27(1) 20-29.

Jeffrey, W. (2009). Management of Diabetes in the Elderly. Journal of Clinical Diabetes, 17(1) 6-13

Kirkman S., Vannessa J. & NathanieL C. (2012).Diabetes in Older Adults: A Consensus Report. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 60(2), 2342-2354.

National Institute on Aging. (2010). Diabetes in older people: A disease you can manage. Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.

Scambler, G. (2012). Contemporary theorists for medical sociology. New York: Routledge.

Sinclair, A., & Finucane, P. (2001). Diabetes in old age. Chichester: John Wiley.