Question

You are taking care of a newly admitted 78 year old resident, Ms. Wong, in the low care wing of an Aged Care unit. She suffered a stroke last year resulting in right sided weakness of both her right arm and right leg. She now walks with the help of a 4 wheel frame and needs assistance with her ADLs due to the weakness of her right arm. She is a retired Registered Nurse. She has a past medical history of Type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension and osteoporosis. She is currently on multiple drugs for all these conditions and is worried about forgetting to take her medications on time. When her medication was checked, it appeared that she had missed her doses on several occasions. She lives alone and has always been single. Her mother passed away 2 years ago and Ms. Wong, who was much attached to her, deteriorated both mentally and physically after the incident.

2.1)   Identify and discuss 3 chronic health problems faced by Ms. Wong (in 40-60 words each).

Answer 1

Ms Wong is suffering from chronic illnesses like stroke, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension, mental and physical deterioration.

Stroke: Stroke is a chronic disability caused by any disruption of blood flow to the brain. This may result in permanent disability. In case of Ms Wong, she is experiencing weakness of right side. This chronic disability will affect the quality of life. Patient has to follow the strict medical care, supportive and rehabilitative care.

Diabetes mellitus: DM is another chronic disease suffered by Ms Wong. The long-term effect of diabetes complications can be cardiovascular disease, stroke, chronic kidney disease, foot ulcers, and retinopathy and neuropathy. Proper medical or pharmacological management with lifestyle modifications will help to improve quality of life. Adherence to drug regimen is very important in the management of DM.

Hypertension: High blood pressure or hypertension itself is a chronic condition and also correlated with other diseases such as heart attack or stroke. They cause disability by itself and the long-term effect of hypertension may cause damage to the other organ systems, like stroke, CKD, Cardiac failure. The best management is the strict pharmacological management and lifestyle modifications.

The coexistence of various chronic illnesses causes multiple disabilities along with mental deterioration. Proper care of the patient with emphasis on adherence to drug regimen is essential to maintain and improve quality of life and prevent further complications.