Challenges and Solutions for Long-Term Care in Aging Populations Assignment

Challenges and Solutions for Long-Term Care in Aging Populations - Assignment Example According to the latest statistics carried out around 40 million people in the United States are aged more than 65 years of age and the country is projected to have 89 million citizens above 65 years by the year 2050. This raises a concern for the help the elderly will be given and by whom. Will the facilities like Medicare and Medicaid provide the service or will they have to depend on their families for support? The above issues show the urgency and the need for the health sector and the government to look into this problem and tackle it as a matter of urgency (the United States, 1986). The long-term care services both in-house and in the healthcare facilities are associated with medical care but they have an emphasis on helping the elderly with their daily chores which include bathing and preparing meals on the condition that they need this assistance. The Medicare is headed by a health professional through a health aid (normal person) will also help the elderly. The issuing of the special equipment that they require which include wheelchairs and grab bars is also a responsibility of the long-term care service providers. The long-term care services are however not only needed by the elderly, but research shows that only a small percentage of the people who require the service are of the younger age (Wilson Company,2014). The challenges they face come from the day to day duties that they are supposed to perform and may face a lot of challenges which may range from the lack of finances. The government and other healthcare providers in the United States have not put a lot of emphasis on the long-term care services and as a result, the nurses and the administrators find themselves overstretched by the resources they have at their disposal. The other challenge is the lack of expertise in dealing with the elderly in the community, and they are not aware of what to do or how to treat people who are elder than them. There should be some training that should be provided to help the nurses and the administrators have the right knowledge of dealing with the elderly cases (Nyce, 2005).