HEALTH PROMOTION AND HEALTH MAINTENANCE

The maintenance of health and functional independence are the most important aspects of health promotion in older adults.

The most common diseases are:

• Hypertension
• Ischemic stroke
• Cardiac failure
• Diabetes
• Dementia
• Depression

RISK FACTORS

• Organics: hypertension, malnutrition, incontinence and sensorial difficulties.
• Environmental: inactivity, barriers…
• Relationships: lonesomeness and insomnia.

OBJECTIVES OF GERIATRIC PREVENTION:

• Reduce mortality
• Increase life expectancy
• Improving the quality of life
• Dependence
• Disability

Provide attention to the old persons and their surroundings are our labor like nurses. Inside of the care processes are:

•  Reinforcement: the old person is independent and the carer only say him/her some action she/he have to do.
• Support: the carer gives to the old persons some advices and guides them to execute some actions. 
• Aid: the carer contributes in some activities because the old person has some physical and mental  problems.
• Substitution: the old person present incapacity to do all the activities, so the carer does the total action.

Dependency: functional consequences of disability with changes in activity, which causes difficulties in basic activities

Disability: partial or total decrease of the ability to perform an activity

HEALTH PROMOTION 

1. Blood pressure: once a week. Prevention: hypertension.
2. Control of lipids: screening in adults without symptoms (more than 35 years in men and more than 45 years in women). Prevention: dislipemia.
3. Electrocardiogram: once per year in older than 75 years. Prevention: arrhythmia and fibrillation with anticoagulant and other medications.
4. Glycaemia: once a year. Prevent: diabetes II. 
5. Test of mental state: once a year. Prevent: cognitive deterioration.
6. Blood hide in feces. Prevent: colon cancer. 
7. Mammography: each 1 o 2 years. Prevent: breast cancer.
8. Rectal touch: to prevent prostate cancer.
9. Study audiometric
10. Rating ophthalmological

I think that the health promotion is very important to prevent the diseases because if we observe the symptoms we can do an early prognosis and the consequences are less.

Our job as nurses is to insist on the importance of promotion and health education to reduce the possible complications of the different diseases.

1. Curcio Borrero Carmen Lucía. SOPORTE SOCIAL INFORMAL, SALUD Y FUNCIONALIDAD EN EL ANCIANO. Hacia promoc. Salud  [serial on the Internet]. 2008  Dec [cited  2013  May  04] ;  13(1): 42-58. Available from: http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0121-75772008000100004&lng=en.
2. Rangel Rivera Julio César, Lauzardo García del Prado Gema, Quintana Castillo Maritzabel, Gutiérrez Hernández María Elena, Gutiérrez Hernández Norlistaymi. Necesidad de crear programas de promoción y prevención en el adulto mayor. Rev Cubana Estomatol  [revista en la Internet]. 2009  Mar [citado  2013  Mayo  04] ;  46(1): . Disponible en: http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-75072009000100004&lng=es.