EPC Module 2 - Long Term Care - Social & Psychological Issues
Chapter 1: Long Term Care Issues
It is common knowledge that taking care of one’s self financially for long term care in the future is a major issue. Our aging elders are no different in this regard. Course attendees will be in a better position to provide advice to the elders they interact with when dealing with the various risks that are, and will be, associated with their change in independent status.
The areas that the EPC will study are:
• WHY long term care is such an issue, now and in the future.
• HOW is society going to fund their long term care when the need arises?
• WHAT is the role of Long Term Care insurance in an aging society?
Chapter 2: Housing Options
The EPC will be in a better position to describe the many housing options that are available for the elder. The EPC, when faced with helping the elder, can help recommend the proper alternative based on the elder’s needs and wants.
The EPC should become familiar with the fact that as people age, their health begins to deteriorate. When this happens, the need to find suitable housing or living arrangements becomes evident. Either making changes to their existing home or looking for a new dwelling could fill this need. A nursing home could also be the solution. The EPC will learn what to look for when the elder or their family chooses an assisted living or nursing home.
This chapter will walk the EPC through the various stages of why elders want to stay in their own homes. The decision to relocate can be a traumatic one, increasing the need for support from many different areas.
The EPC will look at the various types of housing arrangements available to the elder today. Some different types of government assistance programs will be discussed to offer alternatives to the funding process.
Chapter 3: Caregiving in America
All EPC’s should become familiar with the many types of caregiving resources available. They should understand many of the hurdles that our elders face, as informal caregivers meet their continuing need for assistance from many avenues.
The students will look at and review the many issues surrounding caregiving. Some of the topics covered will deal with what is required to be a caregiver, how to be a good caregiver, and what the difficulties and demands of caregiving really entail. The many phases and duties of providing care to a recipient will be addressed. Caregiving stress and elder abuse issues will be discussed in detail. With any position, one must be aware of the satisfaction that comes with knowing that the job was done right. To this extent, the EPC will also become aware of the rewards that accompany caregiving.
Chapter 4: End-Of-Life Planning Issues
As professionals, EPC’s should become familiar with the major issues that a critically ill elder is facing. It is not necessary to be fully conversant with these issues, but rather to know where to refer the elder and their family for any further legal information pertaining to their choice or choices. If the elder cannot speak for himself, then who will look after his desires? Will it be the EPC? Will it be the elder’s family?
The EPC will look at healthcare and family issues as people near death. They will look at the quality of life that can lead the elder and their families to make crucial decisions. Hospice and palliative care play an important role in the aging process. As such, you will be required to know the basic information about each and how they can enhance an elder’s final time on this earth. The EPC will look at the planning issues beyond the legal and medical procedures in order to meet their elder client’s needs and wishes.
Chapter 5: Funeral Planning
The EPC will become familiar with the various options when advising elder clients about funeral home choices. The main point in this chapter is to know where to go when it comes time to plan for the final journey.
Upon completion of this chapter, the EPC will be in a position to provide an overview in regards to the offerings that a funeral home can provide to the individual, either before or after death. The EPC will also know what type of assistance is available to assist the elderly when the time comes to look at planning a funeral.
Chapter 6: Bereavement – Grief and the Healing Process
People all experience and deal with changes and losses in their lives every day. This is a natural part of being. As you get older, the chances of losing things in your life are very real. The EPC will study and learn how to help elders who are going through various stages of the grieving process because of the aging process, and the fact that someday everyone must experience grief.
This chapter will prepare the EPC for dealing with loss and grief with the elder and their family. All the variables will be studied with the intent of providing an overview on how to adjust for the healing process.
The EPC will learn about the experience of loss. They will look at the total grieving process and study the five stages that humans go through after a loss has occurred.
As the EPC finds their way through this chapter on grief experiences, they will discover that there is no right or wrong way to do the work of mourning. There is only the individual’s way, and they must discover it for themselves.
There is no magic formula, no short cut, and no easy way out. Grief is as if the person is inside a long, winding tunnel whose entrance is closed behind them, and the only way out is to head through it and out the other side.
A thorough study of this chapter will better enable the EPC to provide effective interaction with their grieving elder clients and families.
“Grief will make a new person out of you, if it doesn't kill you in the making."
A quote by Stephanie Ericsson, Companion through the Darkness.