Given the rapid pace of society’s aging, long-term care is becoming a priority item on the welfare reform agenda. Population aging will continue to affect society, including labor and financial resource markets, demand for goods and services, and health care (Cristea., 2020). Meeting the challenge of long-term care requires social welfare agencies to take action. Among other things, it is vital that there is effective collaboration between institutions, branches of the law, and service providers. The current health care system is not ideal – there is not an adequate supply, particularly for the poor, funding problems are not solved. The cost of treatment is extremely high and will only increase in the future. It is necessary to find optimal solutions that could address the needs of the elderly and non-elderly disabled.
The harm reduction approach refers to methods and programs that aim to reduce the negative consequences of substance use for people who are unable or unwilling to stop using substances. The core element of such a method is a focus on preventing drug-related harm and helping people who continue to use drugs rather than on avoiding substance usage. Harm reduction bases its policies and practices on the available evidence on the effectiveness of this approach (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2021). Most interventions of this kind are inexpensive, easy to implement, and significantly impact individual and public health. It is by promoting the benefits of this approach that it becomes possible to persuade patients to adopt this method of treatment.
Palliative care and hospice care – comprehensive care for terminally ill citizens suffering from diseases that cannot be cured. These kinds of care include medical interventions, measures of psychological character, as well as providing such patients with social services and social protection measures. They depend on services that are interconnected and coordinated at each level of the health care system. Outreach work on palliative and hospice care to attract clients’ attention to this direction should be conducted openly, in a non-threatening and positive manner. This is what will allow providers to increase client loyalty and trust.
Ms. L. needs to create an environment in which she is treated with understanding and empathy. Trying to ensure her abstinence from psychoactive substances can be seen as an elusive but desirable goal under a harm reduction approach. Unfortunately, her case does demonstrate an exception to mainstream treatment models. This circumstance cannot help but impair the progress of her recovery. Because of the lack of a prescription for managing her severe pain, Ms. L. has had to use substances to manage her pain. Thus, the system itself generates problems and has yet to find a way to overcome them – people who use drugs continue to be stigmatized. Harm reduction principles, which encourage open dialogue, consultation, and debate, is an approach that could help Ms. L.
Ensuring access to palliative care is not only an ethical obligation of health care systems but also an obligation under international human rights law. The right to palliative care and pain relief is recognized as a human right to health. Under the international drug control conventions, countries are bound by a double obligation. Firstly, they are obligated to ensure the availability of controlled substances for medical purposes. Secondly, they are supposed to protect their populations from addiction to and misuse of substances. From an ethical standpoint, it is unacceptable for a situation to arise where a person will receive less adequate care because of their drug use. Unfortunately, however, countries pay far more attention to their obligations to prevent the abuse of these drugs than to help those already addicted to them.
Long-term care insurance is often not necessary for most older Americans. For example, people eligible for Medicaid or people who will soon become eligible after moving into a nursing home that accepts Medicaid insurance do not need this type of insurance. Also, many Americans believe that their financial savings are enough to pay for long-term care without insurance. The same reasons explain why palliative care is not popular among older Americans. In addition, most health insurance plans cover the cost of this type of care (Konrad, 2021). However, it is also clear that plenty of people will need long-term care insurance. These include people who want to protect their assets or do not want to depend on other family members. It is crucial for people who want to get insurance to remember that insurance terms and conditions can vary in many important details, so it is essential to review them carefully.
Population aging and urbanization are global trends that together are significant forces shaping the 21st century. It is crucial to ensure that older people have access to effective treatment and do not use any stigma to influence its course. Miss L.’s case demonstrates a global health problem that will become increasingly urgent and pressing if a set of measures to combat it is not developed. Currently, many elderlies do not have access to the primary resources necessary for a whole and dignified life. It would simply be unethical to ignore available and proven treatments, such as harm reduction.
References
Cristea, M., Noja, G. G., Stefea, P., & Sala, A. L. (2020). The impact of population aging and public health support on EU labor markets. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(4), 1-27. Web.
Konrad, W. (2021). Understanding palliative care, and how it’s covered by medicare or your insurance. Medicare Guide. Web.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2021). Harm Reduction. Web.