Older Adults Patient Education Issues Essay and Interview

Older Adults Patient Education Issues Essay and Interview
Student’s Name
Institution
Course Number and Name
Instructor’s Name
Date
Older Adults Patient Education Issues Essay and Interview
Patient education plays an instrumental role in influencing health literacy and the health of patients. Healthcare professionals are responsible for educating patients through formal and informal sessions to empower patients with information that can improve patient self-care and self-management (Stewart, 2020). To better understand the influence of patient education on healthcare, an elderly patient will be interviewed about his experience with the healthcare system.
The interview involved a patient who has asthma and has visited the emergency department (ED) due to asthma exacerbations. The first question asked during the interview was whether a patient education representative gave the patient instructions on how to manage the condition. He responded that a healthcare professional informed him on how to know he is having an asthma attack and what to do. He was advised to quit smoking and to always carry his inhaler with him, among other things. He admits that he might have forgotten some of the instructions given to him. This can be attributed to memory and attention problems. Kim and Oh, (2020) indicate that effective patient education among elderly patients is hindered by memory loss and a short attention span. As such, it is important to structure their education sessions in a way that allows information to be repeated enough times for the patient to understand and remember all the instructions.
When asked whether a healthcare professional advised him on their medication, diet, or exercise, the patient explained that initially, he was provided with basic education on how to use his inhaler although he was unable to follow the instructions properly. His visits to the ED were more frequent at the time. However, he explained that he recent...