US Seniors Health Issues and Medical Institutions Coursework

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Updated: Jan 23rd, 2024

Table of Contents

Common medical conditions for seniors
Medical institutions for seniors
Conclusion and Recommendation
Summary
References

Hospitals for seniors, especially long-term care services have changed in the last 30 years. Apart from nursing homes, there are emerging healthcare providers like home-based and community-based. Many clients pay their bills but others use Medicaid and Medicare services.

Common medical conditions for seniors

Several medical conditions are likely to affect seniors. These include the following:

Alzheimer disease;
Diabetes;
Depression;
Heart disease;
Cancer;
Fall injuries;
Loss of balance;
Pneumonia;
Flu;
Osteoporosis;
Vision problems;
Hearing loss.

The overall health status of seniors has declined according to Harris-Kojetin, Sengupta, Park-Lee, and Valverde (2013). Americans will live longer, but with escalating rates of chronic diseases, which would result in a healthcare crisis. Baby Boomers will set a demographic shift in the US as they turn over 65 years old and become significant users of healthcare services.

By 2030, 19.3% of Americans will be above 65 years old. Many seniors live with at least one chronic disease (Healy, 2013) and spend most resources on healthcare services. Hence, chronic diseases will affect older adults’ well-being and economic situations.

Medical institutions for seniors

Types of institutions and clinics serving older adults (their size per population served)

Harris-Kojetin, Sengupta, Park-Lee, and Valverde (2013) noted that there nearly 713,300 residents in residential care communities and 1.38 million nursing homes in 2012. There were “58,500 paid and regulated long-term care services that catered for eight million in 2012” (Harris-Kojetin et al., 2012). From this figure, “22,200 were assisted living care and residential centers, 3,700 hospices, 15,700 nursing homes, 12,200 home health agencies and 4,800 adult day services centers” (Harris-Kojetin et al., 2012).

Home care;
Community care;
Supportive housing programs;
Assisted living;
Continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs);
Nursing homes.

Types of special services provided for older adults and catering to their needs

Length-of-stay of older adults at various hospitals

Different studies have shown variations in the length of stay among seniors (Vetrano et al., 2014; Fisher, Kuo, Graham, Ottenbacher and Ostir, 2010; Kelly et al., 2011). Length of stay ranged from less than 48 hours to nine months based on emergency or elective admission and social support for patients.

Data sets for the nine cities.

No.	Area	Population	Gender	Age (Median)	Household Income (Median)	Race	Urban/Rural %	Pop. Change since 2000
1	Aliso Viejo	41,835	Male-23822 (48.1%)	35.1 years	$94,558	White alone – 29,479 (62.7%)	100% urban	23.20%
			Female -25671 (51.9%)			Hispanic – 8,002 (17.0%)
						Asian alone – 6,294 (13.4%)
						Black alone – 1,536 (3.3%)
						Two or more races – 1,552 (3.3%)
						Other race alone – 147 (0.3%)
						Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone – 19 (0.04%)
						American Indian alone – 8 (0.02%)
2	Ladera Ranch	22,980	No data available	No data available	No data available	17,899 (77.9%) White	No data	No data
						335 (1.5%) African American
						54 (0.2%) Native American
						2,774 (12.1%) Asian
						27 (0.1%) Pacific Islander
						624 (2.7%) from other races
						Latinos 2,952 persons (12.8%)
3	Laguna Hills	31,945	Males: 15,117 (48.8%)	40.8	$82,035	White alone – 19,637 (64.4%)	100% urban	-0.70%
			Females: 15,834 (51.2%)			Hispanic – 5,678 (18.6%)
						Asian alone – 3,552 (11.7%)
						Two or more races – 1,156 (3.8%)
						Other race alone – 197 (0.6%)
						Black alone – 144 (0.5%)
						Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone – 89 (0.3%)
						American Indian alone – 24 (0.08%)
4	Laguna Niguel	64,452	Males: 31,231 (48.5%)	42.8	$95,879	White alone – 45,177 (71.9%)	100% urban	4.10%
			Females: 33,221 (51.5%)			Hispanic – 7,884 (12.5%)
						Asian alone – 6,069 (9.7%)
						Two or more races – 1,938 (3.1%)
						Black alone – 1,284 (2.0%)
						Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone – 244 (0.4%)
						Other race alone – 214 (0.3%)
						American Indian alone – 45 (0.07%)
5	Laguna Woods	16,493	Males: 5,861 (35.5%)	77	$33,772	White alone – 13,600 (84.0%)	100% urban	-0.10%
			Females: 10632 (64.5%)			Asian alone – 1,613 (10.0%)
						Hispanic – 650 (4.0%)
						Two or more races – 179 (1.1%)
						Black alone – 105 (0.6%)
						American Indian alone – 17 (0.1%)
						Other race alone – 18 (0.1%)
						Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone – 10 (0.06%)
6	Lake Forest	78,853	Males: 39,164 (49.7%)	37.2 years	$100,748	White alone – 44,177 (57.2%)	100% urban	34.30%
			Females: 39,689 (50.3%)			Hispanic – 19,024 (24.6%)
						Asian alone – 9,985 (12.9%)
						Two or more races – 2,387 (3.1%)
						Black alone – 1,158 (1.5%)
						American Indian alone – 195 (0.3%)
						Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone – 172 (0.2%)
						Other race alone – 166 (0.2%)
7	Mission Viejo	95,290	Males: 46,535 (48.8%)	42.2	$89,727	White alone – 64,276 (68.9%)	100% urban	2.40%
			Females: 48,755 (51.2%)			Hispanic – 15,877 (17.0%)
						Asian alone – 8,312 (8.9%)
						Two or more races – 3,188 (3.4%)
						Black alone – 1,129 (1.2%)
						American Indian alone – 176 (0.2%)
						Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone – 146 (0.2%)
						Other race alone – 201 (0.2%)
8	Rancho Santa Margarita	48,879	Males: 23,884 (48.9%)	36.0 years	$99,397	White alone – 32,494 (68.0%)	100% urban	3.50%
			Females: 24,995 (51.1%)			Hispanic – 8,076 (16.9%)
						Asian alone – 4,996 (10.5%)
						Two or more races – 1,178 (2.5%)
						Black alone – 680 (1.4%)
						American Indian alone – 170 (0.4%)
						Other race alone – 130 (0.3%)
						Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone – 45 (0.09%)
9	San Juan Capistrano	35,360	Males: 17,531 (49.6%)	40.2 years	$70,427	White alone – 19,312 (55.8%)	100% urban	4.50%
			Females: 17,829 (50.4%)			Hispanic – 13,388 (38.7%)
						Asian alone – 952 (2.8%)
						Two or more races – 566 (1.6%)
						American Indian alone – 156 (0.5%)
						Black alone – 146 (0.4%)
						Other race alone – 43 (0.1%)
						Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone – 30 (0.09%)
	Total residents 436,087

Conclusion and Recommendation

There are significant changes in hospitals and care for seniors as new providers emerge, and seniors need increased healthcare services. A high number of residents at Mission Viejo would require healthcare services.

Summary

The number of seniors will continue to rise significantly by the year 2030. Data indicate that at least one senior has a chronic disease. Many seniors suffer from obesity, cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, fall injuries, pneumonia, and cancer among others. These conditions will increase when many baby boomers turn to old age. Today, seniors are the major consumers of healthcare services, and the population at Mission Viejo will require increased healthcare services in the next two decades as majorities will turn 60 years old.

Several facilities provide care to senior citizens and the lengths of stay in these facilities differ based on the patient’s condition and social support provided.

Mission Viejo is the most populated city among the nine cities with the mean age of 42.2 years. It has the highest number of residents that include whites, other races, female, and male.

References

Fisher, S., Kuo, Y-F., Graham, J., Ottenbacher, K., and Ostir, G. (2010). Early Ambulation and Length of Stay in Older Adults Hospitalized for Acute Illness. Archives of Internal Medicine, 170(21), 1942–1943. Web.

Harris-Kojetin, L., Sengupta, M., Park-Lee, E., and Valverde, R. (2013). Long-Term Care Services in the United States: 2013 Overview. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.

Healy, M. (2013). Analysis of key population indicators illustrates strengths, challenges for senior health on national and state levels. Web.

Kelly, A., Conell-Price, J., Covinsky, K., Cenzer, I., Chang, A., Boscardin, J., and Smith, A. (2011). Lengths of Stay for Older Adults Residing in Nursing Homes at the End of Life. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 58(9), 1701–1706. Web.

Vetrano, D., Landi, F., De Buyser, S., Carfì, A., Zuccalà, G., Petrovic, M.,… Onder, G. (2014). Predictors of length of hospital stay among older adults admitted to acute care wards: a multicentre observational study. European Journal of Internal Medicine, 25(1), 56–62.

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