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Issues in Older Person Nursing
Isabel Higgins
Clinical Nurse Consultant (OPAC), Research and Practice Dev; School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Newcastle; Center for Practice Opportunity and Dev, John Hunter Hospital, Hunter New England Health, Newcastle NSW
Abstract
That older people are the fastest growing portion of the world population is knowledge that Governments and population health planners and policy makers around the world have been grappling with for the past decade. The most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data shows that 25% of the Australian population is over 55 years of age (ABS 2007). Thirteen per cent of the population are already aged 65 years or older and by 2050 this will increase to over 25% of the population totalling 6.6 million people.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW 2006), most Australians consider their health to be good; however, results from the 2004 to 2005 ABS National Health Service (NHS) indicate that 87% had at least one long-term health condition. Notably, the prevalence of these diseases increases with age.
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2005) Population Projections, Australia, 2004-2101, cat. no 3222.0, ABS, Canberra.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2006) National Health Survey: Summary of Results, Australia 2004-05, cat. no 4364.0, ABS, Canberra.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2006) Australia's Health 2006, cat. no AUS73, AIHW, Canberra.
Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing (CDHA) (2002) Aged Care in Australia, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.
Higgins I, Madjar I and Walton J (2004) Chronic pain in elderly nursing home residents: The need for nursing leadership. Journal of Advanced Nursing 12: 167-173.
Lavender E and Keleher H (2004) Rural gerontic nursing. In R Nay and S Garratt (eds) Nursing older people: Innovations and issues 2nd edn, pp.120-133.
Nay R (2004) Nursing workforce issues in aged care. In R Nay and S Garratt (eds) Nursing older people: Innovations and issues 2nd edn, pp.58-73, Churchill Livingstone, Sydney.
Standing Nursing and Midwifery Advisory Committee (SNMAC) (2001) Caring for older people: A nursing priority: Integrating knowledge, practice and values, Department of Health, United Kingdom.
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