Background
The perceptions of a patient about health care vary with age. A caregiver often influences a patient to make healthier decisions in life. Some of the choices include smoking cessation, better dietary patterns, increasing physical activity, and compliance with cancer screening guidelines. Life stages impact these interactions, and a clear understanding of their effect can help in the enhancement of services and formulation of healthcare policies that improve outcomes in medical care delivery (Onder & Fialová, 2017). Patient-provider interaction differs in accordance with life periods. Older people tend to be more genuine in explaining their health challenges compared to the younger generation.
How Different Stages in Life Affect Patient-Provider Interaction
The lifecycle of a person consists of five stages that include infancy, childhood, youth, adult, and old age. Therefore, the effects of each phase on patient-provider interactions are different (Jecker, 2017). According to Mr. Y, a 68-year-old prostate cancer patient who was interviewed, he had better self-efficacy in explaining his needs to the healthcare providers. The examination was in comparison to his 50 years and below counterparts who hesitated to describe their sexual problems to the physician. The reality is that life stages affect connections between a client and a caregiver. However, the clinician should possess proper communication skills to acquire all the history even from hesitant individuals.
Areas of the Hospital that were Concerned with the Wellbeing and Feelings
Every patient expects an environment that is comfortable and patient-centered with all the amenities and recreational places. A warm, homely atmosphere promotes well-being for the sick person (Onder & Fialová, 2017). The interviewee stated that the hospital was supportive and warmly but he lacked access to the outside world. The medical personnel were friendly, the hospital bed was neat, and the surroundings were clean as well. The doctors paid proper attention to his health concerns, and the nurses responded to his frequent requests promptly.
Presence of Family during Hospital Stay
Social connection from the relatives and family gives a patient a sense of belonging and promotes mental and psychological wellbeing. Support improves treatment outcomes as client tends to forget their illness-related stress when they spend time with their families. According to Mr. Y, one of his children devoted his time with him during his hospitalization period. The son offered social support and helped in feeding, keeping him clean and neat, and reminded him to take medications as per the physician’s orders. Therefore, at an older age, individuals need more social, physical, and psychological sustenance compared to their younger counterparts.
Inclusion of the Family in Treatments such as Post Procedure Instructions
The involvement of family members in the treatment of the sick improves the quality of care and also enhances patient outcomes. It also helps the client follow the doctor’s instructions because in cases when they sometimes forget to take their medication, they are then reminded by their relative (Hernandez et al., 2020). Furthermore, healthcare providers make and implement informed decisions when the person’s family is involved. Moreover, these individuals can also offer financial support to the ailing person.
In this particular scenario, Mr. Y’s son was involved in post-prostatectomy treatment of his father. He provided various lab reports such as a full hemogram and the CT scan for abdomen. He also submitted his father’s comprehensive medical history which helped in the planning of post-procedure care. He assisted Mr. Y to adhere to post-procedure instructions such as minimal ambulation in the first one week. The son ensured that his father kept the foley catheter in place for proper drainage of urine. Therefore, the kind of care the old man received from both the medical staff and his family (his son) will have a significant impact on his recovery process.
References
Hernandez, N., Fornari, A., Rose, S., & Tortez, L. (2020). Implementing an inter-professional patient-family-centered plan of care meetings on an inpatient hospital unit. Patient Experience Journal, 7(1), 84-91. Web.
Jecker, N. (2017). Age-related inequalities in health and healthcare: The life stages approach. Developing World Bioethics, 18(2), 144-155.
Onder, G., & Fialová, D. (2017). Ageism in the health care system. Innovation in Aging, 1(suppl_1), 1072-1072.
