2- Healthcare Management

The focus of this course is primarily on WELL older adults, assisting such individuals in attaining, maintaining and regaining their health. This assignment will therefore entail selecting and interviewing a well elderly client, determining and prioritizing nursing diagnoses (with the client), and writing a Primary Health Care Community Resources paper.
• By the end of the first week of the course you should have identified an elderly person living in a community setting who would be comfortable discussing his/her health status and concerns with you. This person can be living alone, living in a health care facility, married or single; whatever scenario presents. However, you should focus only on ONE older person, rather than his or her spouse as well, or other people who may be living with the client.
• During your visit(s) think about your client’s physical/cognitive health status. Formulate a list of self-care strengths and deficits that could be addressed. Look for strengths that may need to be supported and enhanced, as well as deficits. For example, the older person may recognize that s/he has a tendency to fall, but is unsure how to make the home more safe (i.e., a reduced potential for home accidents). Gordon’s Functional Health Patterns can be a helpful organizing tool.
• Following analysis of the data from your visit(s) and identification of potential health care concerns, discuss these self-care strengths/deficits with your client. Be careful, however, to ensure that you work through the ideas together rather than merely listing or telling the client what you think. Then, mutually determine the nursing diagnoses and, together again, identify one health care concern (i.e., prioritized Nursing Diagnosis) for which the client would like more information or education such as: nutritional needs; safety; memory; sexuality; exercise/activity; osteoporosis; medication use; bladder/bowel problems etc.

This prioritized Nursing Diagnosis then becomes the basis for your Primary Care Community Resources Paper.
• Remember as well to give some thought as to how you will terminate your visits with your client. (Initially you would have told your client the number of visits you expected to be making so s/he wouldn’t be disappointed when you complete your clinical component.)
• Through your interactions with your client, you may identify that your client would benefit from follow-up visits from A) Community Health Nurse or other professional. If you have any concerns, please discuss them with me before proceeding. b) Writing your paper Based on the prioritized Nursing Diagnosis you and your client mutually selected for which you could provide health teaching, research the topic and identify three (3) community resources to critique as the basis for your paper. For example, for an elderly person who is malnourished, the services/resources might be a nutritional eating program, meals-on-wheels, or involvement at a local seniors’ church group.
Or, if the person is living in a facility and the nursing diagnosis is perhaps one of self-isolation, perhaps you could look at three programs that might be offered to the individual to improve his/her quality of life. Each resource should be specific and identifiable as a resource on its own. A physiotherapy clinic in a community centre is identifiable; “physiotherapy services” is not. A fall prevention program devised by a Geriatric Day hospital, is an identifiable program; just stating “Prevention of Falls”, is not. You may wish to include an explanation of the underlying disease process (e.g., osteoporosis and the Osteoporosis Society of Canada). You may do so if you feel it will add to the overall paper in terms of the purpose of the service/resource. However, your explanation should be BRIEF: a paragraph or two. The disease process is not the focus of this paper. Rather, the more creative you are in identifying resources and/or services that may assist your elderly client, the better!
The paper should include the following:
• Title Page (1 page) USE PAGE BREAK after the Title page.
• Introduction (1 page maximum) The paper should begin with an introduction to your client and the mutually determined nursing diagnosis. This section outlines the purpose and scope of your paper. The word “Introduction” is not used, but rather the title of your paper. (New change with APA7)
• Content of paper: (6-7 pages maximum) Give this section the same title as you put on your cover page. This section focuses on the discussion of the history of three community resources – when were they established, how did they come to be? Purpose of the services and/or resources: How will it help your client? Is it geared specifically to the elderly or to the population in general?
• Conclusion: (1 page) How would the resource/service meet the older person’s needs? Does it meet your expectations in terms of service delivery and use by the client? Is it useful, relevant, and financially attainable? Is it a value-added service to the client? Emphasize the benefits of the resources to your client. Use examples of your client’s needs that may be met by these resources. USE PAGE BREAK after the content of your paper.
• References (1-2 pages): Include citations (APA 7th edition format) of the materials you have commented on in your paper. Make sure the References are at the end of the paper starting on a new page.
All references mentioned in the paper must be included. c) Suggestions for putting your paper together ✓ As you are not submitting any samples of pamphlets, information sheets, etc., be sure to comment on their content and readability as you critique each one and be sure to cite them in your References section.
✓ Use heading levels to organize your work. (See sample paper for APA Headings)
✓ Synthesize the information you have identified.
✓ Incorporate highlights from what you have read to support your discussion.
✓ When you have used a reference in the content of your paper, be sure indicate the author(s) by putting the last name and publication year in parentheses ( )
. ✓ Provide your own ideas and opinions. This paper is not merely a review of the three resources and NOT a discussion of a medical diagnosis.
✓ The total length of the paper is to be no more than 13 pages in length, including the Title page and References.
✓ The total paper (including References) is to be double-spaced, following current APA