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Most Common Health Issues of Older People

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Older People: Improving Health and Social Care

Abstract

This chapter gives an overview of the most common health issues older people experience. Older persons vary in regard to their independence and economic self-sufficiency as well as their wellbeing and health. Part of the older people live independently and support themselves with their own income; some of them being still active in working life. However, big part of the older population is dependent and vulnerable with growing need for support and care. It is important to understand that older population is not a homogenous group of people, instead, including a variety of different groups with different life history, needs and hopes.

Older people face numerous physical, psychological and social challenges that have impact on their sense of self and capacity to enjoy their life. In older age, it is common that a person has one or more somatic age-related diseases. In addition, the association of ageing with psychological problems is complex. Depression and other psychological and social problems, like anxiety, fear and loneliness, occur more often in older people. A combination of problems is typical for the older old persons and can result in frailty. Frailty increases the risk of falls. Also, frail older people are more at risk for deterioration of oral health, and oral health problems contribute to many other health problems such as malnutrition.

This chapter deals, in addition to different groups of older people, with physical decline related to functional ability and the physical and psychosocial challenges caused by ageing. In addition, frailty and its consequences well will be discussed, with special attention to oral healthcare. The chapter ends with an overview of health problems that might occur in palliative care at the end of life.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nursing, Sector of Public Health, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Panayota Sourtzi & Efstathia Sarla

  2. School of Health Care, Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Kuopio, Finland

    Marja Äijö, Riitta Turjamaa & Eeva-Riitta Ylinen

  3. Research Group Healthy Ageing, Allied Health Care and Nursing, Centre of Expertise Healthy Ageing, Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Hans J. S. M. Hobbelen

  4. School of Health Care Studies: Oral Hygiene/Center of Dentistry and Oral Hygiene, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Linet F. Weening-Verbree

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Correspondence to Panayota Sourtzi .

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  1. Centre of Expertise Healthy Ageing, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Bea L. Dijkman

  2. School of Health Care, Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Kuopio, Finland

    Irma Mikkonen

  3. School of Nursing, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Petrie F. Roodbol

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Sourtzi, P. et al. (2019). Most Common Health Issues of Older People. In: Dijkman, B., Mikkonen, I., Roodbol, P. (eds) Older People: Improving Health and Social Care. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97610-5_3

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