199 Mental Health Concerns and The Older Adult
ANSWER KEY AND RATIONALES
QUESTION 1: A . Rationale: Erik Erikson’s eighth and final stage of psychosocial development is targeted at the older adult and called integrity versus despair. The main conflict in older age happens between integrity (the sense of satisfaction people feel reflecting on a life lived productively) and despair (the sense that life has little purpose or meaning). QUESTION 2: D. Rationale: The National Institute on Aging (2017) provides recommendations for improving communication with the older adult. They recommend using an older client’s preference for being addressed; including their proper titles, such as Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr.; and avoiding endearing terms such as honey and dear. QUESTION 3: A. Rationale: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP, 2022) in Healthy People 2030 names five areas related to social determinants of health: education access and quality, healthcare access and quality, neighborhood and built environment, social and community context, and economic stability. Healthcare access and quality includes telemental healthcare for the older adult with the ability and means to utilize the Internet to receive care electronically.
QUESTION 4: B. Rationale: The National Institute of Aging (2020) lists signs of abuse in the older adult and recognizes that long-term health effects include decreased physical and psychological health, severed social support, financial loss, and early death. QUESTION 5: D. Rationale: Neuroleptic malignant syndrome is a life-threatening condition that can happen in response to antipsychotic medications. Early recognition and intervention are the most important things a healthcare worker can do for a patient experiencing NMS. The primary symptoms of NMS are mental status changes, severe muscle rigidity, and autonomic changes (historically presenting with high fever ranging between 101 and 103 degrees Fahrenheit, tachycardia, and fluctuating blood pressure) (Boyd, 2017).
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