BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN NURSING
NCMB 314 - CARE OF THE OLDER ADULTS
COURSE MODULE COURSE UNIT WEEK
3 12 13
Research Agenda on Aging
✔ Read course and unit objectives
✔ Read study guide prior to class attendance
✔ Read required learning resources; refer to unit
terminologies for jargons
✔ Proactively participate in online discussions
✔ Participate in weekly discussion board (Canvas)
✔ Answer and submit course unit tasks
At the end of the course unit (CU), learners will be able to:
Cognitive:
1. Describe concept of National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS).
2. Discuss the challenges related to caring for elders in the year 2030:
Affective:
1. Listen attentively during class discussions
2. Demonstrate tact and respect when challenging other people’s opinions and
ideas
3. Accept comments and reactions of classmates on one’s opinions openly and
graciously.
Psychomotor:
1. Participate actively during class discussions and group activities
2. Express opinion and thoughts in front of the class
Textbooks:
Mauk, Kristen. (2010). Gerontological nursing: competencies for care.MA: Jones &
Bartlett Publishers.610.7365 G31 2010
Eliopoulos (2018). Gerontological Nursing 9th Edition.Wolters Kluwer
Meiner (2019). Gerontologic Nursing 6th Edition. ELS
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1464018/
https://unstats.un.org/unsd/statcom/doc15/2015-5-TransformativeAgenda-E.pdf
A. National: NIH Publication – 2030 Problems on Caring for Aging Baby Boomers
Objective
To assess the coming challenges of caring for large numbers of frail elderly as the Baby
Boom generation ages.
Study Setting
A review of economic and demographic data as well as simulations of projected
socioeconomic and demographic patterns in the year 2030 form the basis of a review of the
challenges related to caring for seniors that need to be faced by society.
Study Design
A series of analyses are used to consider the challenges related to caring for elders in
the year 2030:
(1) measures of macroeconomic burden are developed and analyzed,
(2) the literatures on trends in disability, payment approaches for long-term care, healthy
aging, and cultural views of aging are analyzed and synthesized, and
(3)simulations of future income and assets patterns of the Baby Boom generation are
developed.
Principal Findings
The economic burden of aging in 2030 should be no greater than the economic burden
associated with raising large numbers of baby boom children in the 1960s. The real challenges
of caring for the elderly in 2030 will involve:
(1) making sure society develops payment and insurance systems for long-term care that work
better than existing ones,
(2) taking advantage of advances in medicine and behavioral health to keep the elderly as
healthy and active as possible,
(3) changing the way society organizes community services so that care is more accessible,
and
(4) altering the cultural view of aging to make sure all ages are integrated into the fabric of
community life.
Conclusions
To meet the long-term care needs of Baby Boomers, social and public policy changes must
begin soon. Meeting the financial and social service burdens of growing numbers of elders will
not be a daunting task if necessary changes are made now rather than when Baby Boomers
actually need long-term care.
Keywords: Long-term care, financing, Baby Boomers, community-based delivery system
A major public policy concern in the long-term care field is the potential burden an aging
society will place on the care-giving system and public finances. The “2030 problem” involves
the challenge of assuring that sufficient resources and an effective service system are
available in thirty years, when the elderly population is twice what it is today. Much of this
growth will be prompted by the aging of the Baby Boomers, who in 2030 will be aged 66 to 84
—the “young old”—and will number 61 million people. In addition to the Baby Boomers, those
born prior to 1946—the “oldest old”—will number 9million people in 2030.
This paper assesses the economic dimensions of the 2030 problem. The first half of the paper
reviews the literature and logic that suggest that aging in general, and long-term care services
in particular, will represent an overwhelming economic burden on society by 2030. Then, a
new analysis of burden is presented to suggest that aggregate resources should not be a
major issue for the midcentury economy. Finally, the paper presents four key challenges that
represent the real economic burden of long-term care in the twenty-first century. These
challenges are significant but different from macro cost issues.
What type of economic burden might be considered overwhelming? Existing literature never
explicitly defines this but the sense is that the burden might be considered overwhelming if: (a)
tax rates need to be raised dramatically, (b) economic growth is retarded due to high service
costs that preclude other social investments, or (c) the general well-being of future generations
of workers is worse than that of current workers due to service costs and income transfers.
The discussion has significant implications for public policy and for private actors focused on
developing an effective care system for the mid–twenty-first century. Public policy goals related
to an aging society must balance the need to provide adequate services and transfers with an
interest in maintaining the economic and social well-being of the nonelderly. The economic
challenges discussed are such that public and private progress that begins in the near future
will make the future burden substantially easier to handle.
B. International: UN Program on Aging
The UN Programme on Ageing is part of the Division for Inclusive Social Development
(DISD), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).
It is the focal point within the United Nations system on matters related to ageing. As the focal
point, its primary action is to facilitate and promote the Madrid International Plan of Action on
Ageing, including designing guidelines for policy development and implementation; advocating
means to mainstream ageing issues into development agendas; engaging in dialogue with civil
society and the private sector; and information exchange.
Expert Group Meeting on Global ageing and the data revolution
Population ageing has profound implications for many facets of human life. An ageing
population will affect everything from economies, labor markets to health and social care. This
prospect requires a better understanding of the implications and possibilities posed by
population ageing as well as the situation of older persons themselves. While the older
population is growing at an accelerated speed, many gaps in ageing related statistics and data
exist, affecting the ability to develop targeted policies and programmes that address ageing
related challenges.
Recently, demand for evidence based data and statistics on older persons has been generated
by the negotiations on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. In order to implement a
comprehensive Post-2015 Development Agenda, efforts to define a strategic framework for
statistics under the so called ‘transformative agenda for statistics’, point at integrating and
broadening the scope of statistics and data collection. The agenda introduces innovations to
incorporate non-traditional sources that so far have not been utilized in official statistics. These
developments provide an opportunity for addressing the gaps and needs posed by ageing.
In this context, the Focal Point on Ageing is organizing an Expert Group Meeting on “Global
ageing and the data revolution – the way forward in the post-2015 environment” in New York
on 7-9 July 2015. The meeting aims at exploring how and which new and non-traditional data
sources can support the policy and programme development on ageing issues. The outcome
of the EGM seeks responds to the need for sound ageing related statistics and data as well as
the needs that will arise from the targets contained in the Sustainable Development Goals and
the Post-2015 environment.
DESCRIPTION
The concept of National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS) was proposed in 1992 in
Agenda 21 (§ 8.7) where countries were called upon to integrate economic, social and
environmental objectives into one strategically focused blueprint for action at the national level.
The NSDS “should be developed through the widest possible participation”. And it “should be
based on a thorough assessment of the current situation and initiatives”. In the Programme for
the Future Implementation of Agenda 21 adopted at the 19th Special Session of the General
Assembly (23-28 June 1997), member States reaffirmed the importance of NSDS and set a
target of 2002 for the formulation and elaboration of NSDS that reflect the contributions and
responsibilities of all interested parties.
However, by 2002, based on national reports received from governments, only about 85
countries had developed some form of national strategies and the nature and effectiveness of
these strategies varied considerably from country to country. The Johannesburg Plan of
Implementation (JPOI) adopted at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development
(WSSD), through paragraph 162 b, recommitted member States to “take immediate steps to
make progress in the formulation and elaboration of national strategies for sustainable
development and to begin their implementation by 2005.”
During the preparatory process for the 2002 WSSD, the International Forum on NSDS was
held in Accra, Ghana in 2001, which led to the launch of the Guidance in Preparing a National
Sustainable Development Strategy. It defined National Sustainable Development Strategy
(NSDS) as “a coordinated, participatory and iterative process of thoughts and actions to
achieve economic, environmental and social objectives in a balanced and integrative manner”.
Most importantly, NSDS is a call for an institutional change. It aims at a transition from the
traditional static putting-a-plan-on-paper exercise towards the establishment of an adaptive
system that can continuously improve. It should be a process which “encompasses situation
analysis, formulation of policies and action plans, implementation, monitoring and regular
review. It is a cyclical and interactive process of planning, participation and action in which the
emphasis is on managing progress towards sustainability goals rather than producing a ‘plan’
as an end product.”
Every country needs to determine, for itself, how best to approach the preparation and
implementation of its national sustainable development strategy depending upon the prevailing
political, historical cultural, ecological circumstances. A "blueprint" approach for national
sustainable development strategies is neither possible nor desirable. The particular label
applied to a national sustainable development strategy is not important, as long as the
underlying principles characterizing a national sustainable development strategy are adhered
to and that economic, social and environmental objectives are balanced and integrated.
Today, when incorporating the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and its 17 SDGs into
national context, although countries do not necessarily label them as “national sustainable
development strategies”, all the underlying core principles are deeply embedded in the national
implementation of SDGs worldwide. As seen at the Voluntary National Reviews at the High
Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, issues such as country ownership and
strong political commitment, the integration of economic, social and environmental objectives
across sectors, territories and generations; broad participation and effective partnerships, the
development of capacity and enabling environment, as well as the mobilization of means of
implementations remain at the center of policy debates at all levels.
AGEING, OLDER PERSONS AND THE 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development sets out a universal plan of action to
achieve sustainable development in a balanced manner and seeks to realize the human rights
of all people. It calls for leaving no one behind and for ensuring that the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) are met for all segments of society, at all ages, with a particular
focus on the most vulnerable—including older persons. Preparing for an ageing population is
vital to the achievement of the integrated 2030 Agenda, with ageing cutting across the goals
on poverty eradication, good health, gender equality, economic growth and decent work,
reduced inequalities and sustainable cities. Therefore, while it is essential to address the
exclusion and vulnerability of—and intersectional discrimination against—many older persons
in the implementation of the new agenda, it is even more important to go beyond treating older
persons as a vulnerable group. Older persons must be recognized as the active agents of
societal development in order to achieve truly transformative, inclusive and sustainable
development outcomes. The current brief acknowledges the importance of a life-course
approach to ageing and calls for protecting and promoting the rights of older persons in the
implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
Older persons are important actors in communities, making key contributions in the following
interrelated areas:
1. Economic development: Older persons make substantial contributions to the economy
through participation in the formal or informal workforce (often beyond retirement age), taxes
and consumption, and transfers of assets and resources to their families and communities,6
and their broader retention in the workforce (among those who wish or need to continue
working) has the potential to enhance labour productivity.7 Today more older persons are
contributing to an entrepreneurial ecosystem (Lee 2017), while embracing new technologies,8
by providing services through digital platforms, car or accommodation sharing and peer-to-
peer lending. In the contexts affected by absence of breadwinners, migration, disease
outbreaks and conflicts, older persons’ work can be the only source of monetary or in-kind
income to sustain families.
2. Unpaid care work: Older persons, particularly older women, play a vital role in providing
unpaid care for spouses, grandchildren and other relatives, including those with disabilities
(UNFPA and HelpAge International 2012). Furthermore, with changes in family structures, the
HIV/AIDS pandemic and growing migration, grandparents have become central and
indispensable to the well-being of families,9 especially in the absence of public care and other
social services.
3. Political participation: With variation across contexts, older persons in some countries,
notably in advanced democracies, can carry significant weight which is mostly associated with
the concentration of economic resources and a tradition of political participation (UNDESA
2007). As older persons continue to constitute an ever-greater proportion of the total
population, they have the potential to be more influential in society. This can have important
implications for social, economic and political outcomes in those countries (progressive but
also regressive), as older persons tend to vote in greater numbers than young people (Goerres
2009), and are increasingly forming their own associations such as lobbying groups, political
parties and grassroots organizations (UNFPA and HelpAge International).
4. Social capital: Many older persons tend to be actively involved in community and civic life
through volunteering, governance of public institutions, and participation in community-based
institutions. This can contribute to strengthening social capital in terms of facilitating
cooperation and improving interactions within and between groups based on shared values,
trust and solidarity (OECD 2007). Older generations are also often the important sources of
historical memory and wisdom, guardians of culture, and repositories of social traditions and
rare knowledge and skills, which can critically complement those of young people.
● NIH – National Instititutes of Health -the steward of medical and behavioral research for the
Nation. Its mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems
and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.
●
Watch and Learn:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4yMnYL0diQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmS0oNIuTpw
1. Why Ageing and Older Persons Matter for Development?
2. Journal Readings on: (Summarize, cite references APA format)
a. Problems on Caring for aging persons
b. Current research update regarding new trends in taking care of patient with severe illness.
Textbooks:
Mauk, Kristen. (2010). Gerontological nursing: competencies for care.MA: Jones & Bartlett
Publishers.610.7365 G31 2010
Eliopoulos (2018). Gerontological Nursing 9th Edition.Wolters Kluwer
Meiner (2019). Gerontologic Nursing 6th Edition. ELS
Miller (2019).Nursing for Wellness in Older Adults 8th Edition . Wolters Kluwer
Touhy ( 2018). Ebersole and Hess Gerontological Nursing and Health Aging
Filit (2017). Brocklehurts Testbook of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology
Patińo, Mary Jane. (2016). Caregiving volume 1. Manila: Rex Book Store. F 649.1 P27
2016,v.1, c1
Doenges, Marylinn E. (2002). Nursing care plans: guidelines for individualizing patient care,
6th ed. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis Company. R 610.73 D67 2002, c5
Meiner, S. E. (2007). Gerontological Nursing 3rd Edition. Quezon City. pp. 310-311, 371.
Wold, Gloria Hoffman. (2012). Basic geriatric nursing, 5th ed. MO: Elsevier.618.970231
W83 2012, c1
Websites:
https://www.un.org/development/desa/ageing/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2017/07/
UNDP_AARP_HelpAge_International_AgeingOlderpersons-and-2030-Agenda-2.pdf
www.ebscohost.com
www.doh.gov.ph
http://www.pna-pjn.com
