Question

Specify the difficulties faced by health care professionals in meeting the special needs of homeless older adults

Answer 1

The main difficulties which are faced by the health care professionals in meeting the special needs of homeless older adults are states below:-

Daily conduct—There are some homeless older persons which impose a lot of difficulty in creating a treatment plan. These people will be having a lot of issue in having a constant supply of medicines when they are passing their lives in the streets. Most of the patients do not take the medicines daily or as advised by the doctor due to the side effects of the medicines such as drowsiness which can risk their survival in the streets.

Varied requirements—Apart from the health and mental problems and the unavailability of the basic requirement, shelter, and income, most of the homeless old aged people are more prone to the addiction of alcohol and other drug materials. In fact, almost 40% of homeless older adults are found to be addicted to alcohol or other drugs which again imposes difficulties in treatment.

Disaffiliation—Despite having an individual support network outside of the family members, most of the older adults lack this kind of support on regular basis. This lack of support and non-contact with the society members also make them go away and not to trust the health care providers. This can be seen as an absence of motivation in being contacted by someone who can support their health.

Doubt—Most of the older homeless adults do not trust the healthcare providers. They might be having unforgettable bad experiences with some medication, healthcare providers, healthcare units which really make them run away from these services.