According to research from the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation, only 4% of Americans believe the healthcare sector is ready to handle a growing senior population. Communication about senior care options and patient confidence in senior clinical quality are two major issues with the healthcare experience.
Nearly 2,000 US adults were polled, and about three-quarters (72%) indicated they didn’t think the country’s healthcare system did a good job of taking care of the existing senior population.
As the Baby Boomer generation enters the high-needs senior population in the US, it is a poor omen for the future. The management of an ageing population by the medical industry is a worry for 76% of respondents.
Senior care is a crucial responsibility of the US healthcare system. Spending on healthcare is typically higher for older individuals who manage several chronic conditions than for younger patients. Additionally, respecting patients’ wishes towards the end of life is not only compassionate, but also need to be a standard therapeutic practise. Following patients’ end-of-life care instructions lessens the possibility of providing expensive, high-acuity care.
The majority of patients, however, believe that end-of-life care is merely fair, and that the country is only somewhat prepared to handle the needs of an ageing population, according to the NPHI survey. As a result, patient impressions of senior care are now divided.
According to the report, some seniors may be left in the dark as a result of poor communication concerning senior care. The majority of respondents claimed that individual families are only minimally prepared to care for elderly loved ones, and this is probably because they haven’t had an opportunity to speak with a healthcare provider in advance about senior healthcare.
Less than a fifth of patients—a quarter of the Silent Generation and 14% of Baby Boomers—have spoken with a clinician about their preferences for end-of-life care.
It’s also unusual that a patient’s intentions for end-of-life care have been recorded, even if they are aware of them. Approximately half of the Silent Generation and 38% of Baby Boomers have their medical wishes in writing, compared to only about one-third of patients.
Although 89 percent of patients say they are comfortable talking about their own mortality and 67 percent say they are comfortable talking to their doctors about their end-of-life preferences, patients are ready to have these discussions. Advanced care planning should be funded by Medicare, say three-quarters of respondents.
These results, according to the researchers, point to a misalignment between patient and provider objectives. Although the survey did not assess the reasons why healthcare professionals might not have these advanced care planning discussions, earlier research has shown that for clinicians to feel more at ease bringing up such a delicate subject, they need more training in the field.
Patients do not fully trust the medical business, according to the NPHI poll, particularly when it comes to elder and end-of-life care. According to the survey, patient confidence in the healthcare sector as a whole is still about 31%, but when it comes specifically to senior care, it’s only at 18%. Patients claimed they did not believe the US healthcare system would prioritise patient care over financial success.
According to the survey, older, insured patients tend to have higher levels of trust.
According to the survey, increasing communication regarding end-of-life care may make patients feel more trusted since it may increase familiarity with these kinds of care. Because most people have at least heard of hospice, it enjoys somewhat greater levels of patient trust.
About 75 percent of patients have some knowledge of hospice care. Six times as many people approved of hospice when they were familiar with the care approach.
The authors of the report recommended that the healthcare sector concentrate on transparency and communication on senior healthcare. Healthcare professionals could help patients and the people who care for them in their families feel more at ease with the subject by encouraging greater conversation about it.
This ought to have knock-on effects such as enhancing patient trust, recording end-of-life care preferences, and increasing participation in managed care at the end of life.
The survey’s authors came to the conclusion that “the healthcare system—particularly in the serious illness and end-of-life space—is under great strain.” “The way healthcare supports people and families as they age needs to be transformed on a broad scale and strategically due to labour shortages, high prices, and an ageing American population. The demands and preferences of the population must be at the heart of such a transition.
