AHS 411 Bio-Psycho-Social Issues of Aging
Written Report
A 6 to 15 page research paper is required for this course. This does not include the reference pages or any graphs you may wish to include. The student should use the APA style. The topic for the paper should be How Will the “Baby Boomer” Generation Affect HealthCare. You should consider the following topics for inclusion: (This list is not to be considered all-inclusive.)
Please remember that you are all at least college juniors. Critical thinking and logic are expected of you. Please use this opportunity to present a rational, well-researched paper. You should work alone; plagiarism is not tolerated.
The “Baby Boomer” generation includes all persons born between 1946 and 1964. They grew up on Mustangs, Rock’n’Roll, and Bonanza. They questioned the status quo and stopped a war. They fought for civil rights, experimented with drugs and sex, and joined the Peace Corps. Schools had to be built to accommodate their expanding ranks, and they filled colleges and universities, becoming the best educated Americans in history. Today they are our government and corporate leaders, Bill Clinton and George Bush are both older “baby boomers”. They also wield enormous buying power and own most of this country’s wealth. They are, paradoxically, both more health conscious and fatter than there predessors. As they start to retire and begin experiencing problems associated with age such as heart disease and arthritis, they threaten to overload our healthcare system. They are predicted to live longer than their predecessors and with more chronic health problems.
How will this generation affect our health care system?
· What demographic trends will affect your health care organization and the economy in general? When and where will the greatest healthcare resources be used?
· What about generational trends and conflicts? Will tax money be funneled to the elderly or will elderly appropriations be cut by those persons in younger generations? Is the baby boomer generation stretching the healthcare resources? Who has the political power and who is expected to use it?
· Is the morbidity curve being further compressed? How healthy are the elderly? Are there differences in the health status between the sexes? Or between the races? Or between the wealthy and the poor? Explain
· What about the mental status of the elderly? Is senile dementia and Alzheimer’s disease increasing? How are these persons being treated? Have there been drug breakthroughs?
· How are organizations coping with these trends? Are new providers for care of the elderly being developed? What about the traditional nursing homes? Have they changed? Who cares for the long-term care patient? Is there more emphasis being placed on home care? Hospice care? Wellness programs? . How are seniors being encouraged to take care of their health?
· Are there new health care professions being created to work with the elderly? Are more therapists being demanded? Do we have new specialties in medical school? In nursing school? In allied health?
· Is there new technology which is affecting elder care? What about new drugs? Do these new technologies positively affect long-term care or is the technology simply prolonging persons with poor qualities of life?
· Have health care ethics caught up with the gains in health care? How are we dealing with physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia? How do we handle DNR’s and the issue of “death with dignity”?
· What financing mechanisms are in place to pay for elder care? What about Social Security? Is it still viable? Has the number of persons with long-term care insurance policies rising? Is more elder care being paid through managed care?
The report should be text-processed in 12-point font, double-spaced, and include a cover page. MS Word must be used. Margins should not exceed 1 inch in any direction. Reports will be graded using the attached criteria. APA style is considered appropriate. A minimum of 10 references is expected.
Reports will be graded using the attached Written Assignment Grading Criteria. Reports are due by the date indicated on the class schedule, although they may be submitted earlier. Submit the report through the assignment drop box.
Plagiarism is not allowed. This is easily detected through certain computer programs. Any student who plagiarizes a paper will be given a “zero” for the paper.
Written Report Grading Criteria
CONTENT
70 points
Contains all correct information requested; well developed and in logical sequence, i.e., introduction, body, conclusion. Addresses the assigned topics: primary lessons learned about oneself from the course, and application of learning. At least six pages of text.
65 points
Contains all correct information requested. Somewhat developed.
60 points
Contains most information requested. May lack some accuracy.
0-59 points
Contains inaccurate or incomplete information. Does not address the assigned topics.
DEPTH
10 points
Evidence of thoughtful serious consideration of topics.
1-9 points
Moderate amount of consideration.
0 points
Superficial treatment of topics.
ENGLISH/GRAMMAR
8 points
Written in correct English. Well developed sentence structure. Correct punctuation.
6 points
Fair/good use of English language. Few errors in punctuation or sentence structure.
4 points
Average use of English language. Several errors in punctuation and/or sentence structure.
0-2 points
Written in poor English. Many errors in sentence structure and/or punctuation.
NEATNESS/SPELLING
6 points
Neatly typed/printed. No misspelled words or spacing errors.
5 points
One misspelled word
4 points
Two (2) misspelled words.
2 points
Four (4) misspelled words.
0-1 point
Handwritten. Six (6) or more misspelled words.
CREATIVITY
4 points
Very creative. Use of illustrations, etc.
3 points
Some creativity
1-2 points
Contains minimal creativity.
0 points
No evidence of creativity.
PRESENTATION
2 points
Presented with properly designed title page giving finished, professional look.
1 point
Plain title page (title only).
0 points
Presented without title page.
