Topic > Global Health Assessment on an Elderly Patient

IndexIntroductionConclusionReferencesIntroductionAccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), health means "A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not simply the absence of disease or infirmity" ( WHO, 1948). A comprehensive health assessment can know how a person has achieved changes from different situations such as new environment, stress level and internal systems of the body. There are six components that lead to a comprehensive health assessment. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Starting from physical health, a simple assessment can know the acute or underlying problem of the body. Furthermore, developmental assessment can know whether the person reaches the developmental milestone or not. Subsequently, nutritional assessment can know the nutritional status of the person which directly affects health. Therefore cultural, psychosocial and spiritual assessment are inseparable and influence each other. Cultural beliefs influence spiritual and psychosocial behaviors, such as methods of coping with stress. A 75-year-old man named David had suffered a stroke three months ago. A nurse had performed an interview and physical examination and would discuss the psychosocial and nutritional aspects that David had affected as below. After observation and a simple conversion with David, the nurse knew that David is a traditional Chinese man who takes care of himself -image. He was conscious but now suffered from right-sided hemiplegia and had slurred speech. He needed a quadripod when he walked and others had difficulty communicating with him. First of all, the psychosocial aspect. With reference to “psychosocial assessment in mental health”, both internal and external factors would influence psychosocial health related to physical health. David's physical health was not very good, now there were internal factors that could affect his psychosocial health. He needed help throughout his daily life, including taking care of himself. It led him to think he was a burden to his family. This was the reason for moving to the nursing home. His self-concept was another internal factor affecting his psychosocial health. Mind-body-spirit were connected, he had low self-esteem and poor body acceptance, David may want to harm himself due to negative thinking. Furthermore, external factors also influenced David's psychosocial health. He was transferred to a nursing home. The change of environment made him feel stressed, he needed to adapt to the new living place and new neighbors. David said he was not happy with the other residents of the nursing home. You may feel more stressed while adjusting to the new environment. Now he needed walking aids. It was not very comfortable for him to move. This was why he rarely participated in group activities with other residents. He couldn't build a close relationship with his residents, so he couldn't get emotional support or a close bond. He became more pessimistic. David moved away from home, he also lost his primitive social bond and emotional support with his family. He had no emotional support or resources of hope when he was in trouble or unhappy. The stress affected his appetite and led to weight loss. Directly affected by both psychosocial and physical health. Although David's move to the nursing home could weaken the relationship between him and his family, his family visited David regularly. He told usthat his family members were enthusiastic about reading the Bible and singing hymns to him and this made him feel happy and relaxed at that time. David was able to receive both emotional and social support while visiting family members. Your family members may have a positive influence on your psychosocial health. Hospital Stress Rating Scales were used to assess David's stress level. The nursing home environment was similar to that of the hospital. Furthermore, the scales are evaluated from different aspects, such as emotional and social. According to the hospital's measurement of patient stress: STRESS: RATING SCALE (Meissner, E., Judith, 1980), "This rating tool allows you to focus on a patient's specific stressors." The scales may allow the nurse to learn about David's specific stressors and help him overcome them. Secondly, nutritional assessment. According to the interview, David looked very weak, thin and tired. He had swallowing problems after suffering a stroke three months ago and now only tolerates the puree diet. He hadn't gotten used to the puree diet as the texture of the food had changed a lot. From the solid form to the puree form that made him lose his appetite. He needed to take longer than before to finish his meal. He also needed to add the powdered thickener to the water. The swallowing problem directly affected nutritional intake and absorption by the body. It contributed to David's weight loss these two months. He was also not used to the puree diet as the texture of the food had changed a lot. From the solid form to the puree form that made him lose his appetite. From the nutritional history David provided, he told the nurse that he had followed the food pyramid to follow his daily diet before having a stroke. The nurse had also used skin fold thickness and body mass index method to measure David's body condition. The result showed that David was too thin, he had the problem of nutritional imbalance. Furthermore, David is a traditional Chinese man, he did not get used to feeding by the healthcare worker in the nursing home. David complained of abdominal distension and a change in bowel habits. The feeling of abdominal distension may be related to constipation. He said he had changed his bowel habit. He had open bowels every three days with hard stools. The reduction in food intake and fluid intake affected both nutritional intake and fluid absorption. This was another reason why he lost weight in these two months. To find out why David was complaining of abdominal distension, changes in bowel habits, and a lot of blood due to hard stools, the nurse performed an abdominal assessment. the nurse inspected David's abdominal contour. His abdomen appeared flat, symmetrical, and without scarring on the abdominal wall. Then, he used a stethoscope to auscultate the tone and sounds of bowel movements. He heard the high-pitched sound and duration of about 20 seconds of each bowel movement. Percussion was next. He heard the timpani sound after performing the percussion. Refer to the book ''Interpreting Signs and Symptoms'', (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2007), the auscultation and percussion findings were relevant for constipation. Finally, the nurse used light palpation first, drew a clock from the upper right quadrant to the lower left quadrant. David's abdomen was soft, no tenderness, stiffness or tenderness was noted.