Health Education For Senior Citizens

This research presents information emphasizing the importance of developing, implementing, and operating a comprehensive health education program for senior citizens. The target population groups for such a program includes middleclass individuals aged 62 year and older who are ambulatory and live independently in an urban area with easy access to transportation, shopping, exercise, and health care facilities.

The desirable content of a health education program for senior citizens is presented in the discussion following this introductory material. The program content discussion is followed by a description of the nursing orientation and structure of such a program.

A comprehensive health education program for senior citizens should address as a minimum the topical areas of nutrition, physical exercise, breast care, and substance use. The significance of each of these factors for senior citizens is developed in the discussions that follow.

There is a general concern in the United States with respect to high levels of malnutrition among senior citizens (Cope, 1994, pp. 2934). Malnutrition is considered to be a major risk for morbidity and mortality among senior citizens (Mion, McDowell, and Heaney, 1994, pp. 4651). The prevalence of malnutrition among independentlyliving senior citizens is estimated to range as high as 51 percent. Elderly persons genera

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g from breast cancer (American Cancer Society, 1994, p. 8). All of these women will experience a change in body image, and approximately 60 percent of those women will experience a serious body image disturbance. Most women who experience breast cancer are diagnosed with the condition between the ages of 50 years old and 60 years old (Curran, 1994, pp. 184185). Thus, advancing age is one factor that places women at a greater level of risk for the development of breast cancer. A 40 year old woman has a onein217 chance of developing breast cancer. The odds drop to onein93 for a 45 year old woman, to onein50 for a 50 year old woman, and onein33 for a 55 year old woman. Heredity is also a factor in the development of breast cancer, although only 2.5 percent of breast cancer cases have been positively linked to heredity, and experts think that the total proportion to breast cancer cases related to heredity is less than 10 percent. Fear of the potential for contracting breast cancer causes some women to avoid examinations that may lead to early detection. Such fear, however, may be able to be used in a positive way to motivate elderly women to seek breast care and mammograms (van Dijic, Holland, Verbeek, Hendriks, and
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Approximate Word count = 2571
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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