CAPSIANO URGENT! 3 pages

IMPACT OF CHRONIC ILLNESSES 6

The Impact of Chronic Illness

Stephanie Gardner

South University

Illness & Disease Management across Life Span

NSG4055

June 20, 2017

The Impact of Chronic Illness

Having discussed the issues of chronic illness in a comprehensive manner, we are going to come up with a detailed interview of an individual who has been reported to be suffering with the illness discussed in the previous paper. In the previous paper, arthritis was the main chronic illness under discussion. This essay seeks to have a detailed analysis of the situation that Mr. S.D. is currently facing. Mr. S.D. is a coworker in the department where I work and he has suffered with arthritis for a long time. The level of his arthritis is more at the advanced stage; therefore, his treatment would require a carefully designed action plan to ensure that the results obtained are the best. In this paper, the interview will be administered and the patient’s responses will be analyzed with regards to the treatment he ought to be subjected to.

First, the patient was questioned on how long he has been with the condition. He said, he was diagnosed at a young age and that was approximately twenty years ago. His response to whether he had received any kind of treatment in the past was that, he had tried several health care plans under the care of a few doctors, but unfortunately his situation kept on worsening with minimal to no relief. Some of the common symptoms that he had included were fatigue, pain at the joints as well as swelling in the joints. He had also experienced stiffness of the joints. These kinds of symptoms depicted by the patient was seen as a clear indication that his illness is at a more advanced stage (Anhang et al., 2014).

Apart from arthritis, the patient stated he also suffers from diabetes and he has had this condition for over ten years. However, he has been under the care of a new doctor and on a new health care plan. He said he has experienced some beneficial changes. For instance, he stated that the swelling and stiffness of his joints has reduced significantly and that the kind of medical care he was undergoing with his physician was satisfactory. He recommended such care for other patients. The last time he experienced an acute arthritis attack was six months ago, and it was so severe that he was admitted to the hospital. He does take medications for treatment and is under the care of a nurse who helps in monitoring his progress. Other coping mechanisms that the patient uses for his plan of care include; exercising, cold and hot therapy, and yoga. He stated that yoga helps him in a great way; however, he understands his level of illness and knows it will never be cured.

When listening to the patient’s situation and the answers he provided, I understood his concerns and the severity of his chronic illness which is getting worse. I understood that this chronic illness is not resolvable and can only worsen as he ages especially if he is noncompliant. Therefore, the following analysis would best suit his responses. It is necessary to consider that such a situation needs immediate attention and treatment, and this is due to the critical levels that his condition had gotten to. It is important that he undergoes 24-hour medical care under his doctor and continues with the other coping mechanisms so as to help control his illness. If not, he is likely to suffer from frequent acute attacks. Failure to monitor and treat his chronic illness would imply worse situations or even death. He stated that for the past twenty years he has had arthritis, and he has not been able to get effective treatment from most doctors. Also, the medication regimes he has been put on do not always work as well as he would like. Therefore, he should consider speaking with his doctors and home health nurse regarding his concerns and ask for other treatment alternatives. Also, I suggested he should research on other alternatives he could do at home to help subside his pain.

From the above analysis of the responses the patient gave in the interview he was subjected to, I can conclude that they play an important role in determining his care plan development. This is so because it enables the doctor to understand the situation better, especially in the moment when the patient comes in for treatment (Cabana et al., 2014). Also, the analysis of the results helps the patient explain himself in a better way, in case he is to be subjected to further treatment. The doctor is able to distinguish what kind of treatment his body responds to and subject him to exactly that. Indeed, the analysis plays an imperative role in the determination of the type or kind of care that the patient ought to be subjected; thus, needs to be looked at with much keenness (Houban et al., 2014).

Summarily, chronic illnesses are known to be common in the modern world hence needs to be looked at with much attention. In the previous paper, the learning of chronic illness was discussed, and arthritis was the main illness. In the above paper, Mr. S.D., a coworker, was found to be suffering from arthritis, a chronic illness. Therefore, he was chosen for the purposes of discussion in this paper. He was subjected to a questionnaire and his responses were analyzed comprehensively. From the analysis results, it is evident that the patient’s condition is at a critical stage and needs consistent medical attention. The significance of the analysis in directing the care plan is also provided in the discussion above. Indeed, chronic illness is one issue that needs to be looked at keenly.

References

Anhang Price, R., Elliott, M. N., Zaslavsky, A. M., Hays, R. D., Lehrman, W. G., Rybowski, L., ... & Cleary, P. D. (2014). Examining the role of patient experience surveys in measuring health care quality. Medical Care Research and Review, 71(5), 522-554.

Cabana, M. D., Slish, K. K., Evans, D., Mellins, R. B., Brown, R. W., Lin, X., ... & Clark, N. M. (2014). Impact of physician asthma care education on patient outcomes. Health Education & Behavior, 41(5), 509-517.

Houben, C. H., Spruit, M. A., Groenen, M. T., Wouters, E. F., & Janssen, D. J. (2014). Efficacy of advance care planning: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 15(7), 477-489.