TY - JOUR
T1 - Elder Orphans Hiding in Plain Sight
T2 - A Growing Vulnerable Population
AU - Carney, Maria T.
AU - Fujiwara, Janice
AU - Emmert, Brian E.
AU - Liberman, Tara A.
AU - Paris, Barbara
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Maria T. Carney et al.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Adults are increasingly aging alone with multiple chronic diseases and are geographically distant from family or friends. It is challenging for clinicians to identify these individuals, often struggling with managing the growing difficulties and the complexities involved in delivering care to this population. Clinicians often may not recognize or know how to address the needs that these patients have in managing their own health. While many such patients function well at baseline, the slightest insult can initiate a cascade of avoidable negative events. We have resurrected the term elder orphan to describe individuals living alone with little to no support system. Using public data sets, including the US Census and University of Michigan's Health and Retirement Study, we estimated the prevalence of adults 65 years and older to be around 22%. Thus, in this paper, we strive to describe and quantify this growing vulnerable population and offer practical approaches to identify and develop care plans that are consistent with each person's goals of care. The complex medical and psychosocial issues for elder orphans significantly impact the individual person, communities, and health-care expenditures. We hope to encourage professionals across disciplines to work cooperatively to screen elders and implement policies to prevent elder orphans from hiding in plain sight.
AB - Adults are increasingly aging alone with multiple chronic diseases and are geographically distant from family or friends. It is challenging for clinicians to identify these individuals, often struggling with managing the growing difficulties and the complexities involved in delivering care to this population. Clinicians often may not recognize or know how to address the needs that these patients have in managing their own health. While many such patients function well at baseline, the slightest insult can initiate a cascade of avoidable negative events. We have resurrected the term elder orphan to describe individuals living alone with little to no support system. Using public data sets, including the US Census and University of Michigan's Health and Retirement Study, we estimated the prevalence of adults 65 years and older to be around 22%. Thus, in this paper, we strive to describe and quantify this growing vulnerable population and offer practical approaches to identify and develop care plans that are consistent with each person's goals of care. The complex medical and psychosocial issues for elder orphans significantly impact the individual person, communities, and health-care expenditures. We hope to encourage professionals across disciplines to work cooperatively to screen elders and implement policies to prevent elder orphans from hiding in plain sight.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84994639405&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1155/2016/4723250
DO - 10.1155/2016/4723250
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84994639405
SN - 1687-7063
VL - 2016
JO - Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research
JF - Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research
M1 - 4723250
ER -