Disabilities, Disease, and Aging; Public Reaction Paper

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This creates a platform for them to help each other with daily needs or simply to offer companionship and other forms of assistance. It is also found that, in the case of unmarried or childless older people, nieces and nephews can play an important role in care and companionship needs. Hence, the various family relationships the elderly are able to establish over time because they live longer allow them to establish a basis for informal care once his becomes necessary.

Because of longer lives, the health needs of older people have undergone great changes over the last 100 years. Modern diseases such as HIV / AIDS are at the forefront of medical professional attention today, especially as this concerns older people. Indeed, a paradigm shift has become necessary, since the common assumption has been that young people are in need of education regarding the condition (National Institute on Aging, 2013). However, since older people are sexually active for longer than was the assumption before, it has become necessary to pay attention to potential ignorance levels among them.

The various differences and dynamics of growing older today as opposed to 100 years ago has made it necessary to pay significant academic attention not only to the health needs of older people, but also to the way in which they experience and live their lives and their connections to others. Some research, for example, focus on the various interactions and dynamics among older people and their families. It has been found, for example, that older people negotiate and renegotiate their family relationship as the life span progresses (Chapter 14, p. 261). One example of this is the care giving role, which changes from a parental one to care provided for grandchildren, and finally to receiving care from children and even grandchildren. These dynamics are important in terms of policy construction. Particularly, health care reform is battling with concerns about providing an increasingly aging population with its health needs.

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If one considers the value of informal care by siblings or children, however, a large amount of the current burden on the system could be alleviated. Even the burden on professional care givers could be alleviated, since this has also become an important health concern related to the aging society of today (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010).

Perhaps this is one of the greatest shifts in conceptual paradigms not only by individuals observing the elderly, but also by the elderly themselves. It is the understanding that moving to a home or retirement village is not necessarily the only option. Indeed, many prefer to remain at their homes, not only for financial reasons, but also for the emotional attachments to the home (NORCs, 2013).

At the same time, health care reform has created great congressional debate, especially concerning the needs of older people and the future needs of people who will reach older ages even than today. The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act (Langel, 2009), is sponsored by HELP Chairman Edward Kennedy. The purpose of the Act is to establish a voluntary disability insurance program. Many Senate Republicans, on the other hand, argue that the bill will be far more costly than is justified. Nevertheless, all sides of the debate appear in agreement that long-term care policies need a significant overhaul. This is more political attention than the elderly has ever received before. In terms of human rights and the Constitution, no person should be allowed to age and die in abject poverty. Unfortunately, this is the reality for many of the country's elderly.

In conclusion, the new situation facing society today means that new concepts and policies need to be devised. A balance between actual needs, the possibilities involved in informal care, and policy making will probably take a significant amount of time to establish. It is nevertheless encouraging that those in power and those in academic institutions are working.....

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