Exploring Transitions Faced by Older Adults

Significance of the Topic to the Experience of the Older Adult

For this assignment you will write a paper in which you explore a common transition faced by older adults. This transition may relate to a health transition (e.g. illness), a transition in living environment (e.g., a move to an assisted living facility or a long-term care facility), or dying or death. The emphasis in this assignment is to examine how older adults face into a transition, including the psychosocial, existential, and family ramifications. For instance, you might choose to focus on grief and loss as a response to moving into a long-term care facility. Within this paper, you will examine how older adults experience this grief and loss, how family members respond, as well as existential issues that may arise from this transition (e.g., Who am I now that I am institutionalized?)

Assignment 3 must:

be seven to eight pages in length; not to exceed eight, excluding title page, references, and appendices;

be typed, double–spaced, single-sided, with margins of 2.5 cm on all sides;

follow the style guidelines found in the 6th edition of the APA Publication Manual; and

include references to provide evidence of application of theory.

Assignment 3 will be marked according to the following grading criteria:

Describes a transition faced by older adults and includes psychosocial, existential, and familial responses to this transition. You may include a short case example to illustrate the topic.

Describes significance of this topic to the experience of the older adult (physical and mental health), how the transition is understood in the literature and in nursing research.

Analyzes how nurses can respond (assessment and intervention) to aid older adults and family members experiencing transitions. Also addresses two proposed changes to the health care system and a potential research study that could address how transitions impact older adults, family members or the health care system.

Scholarly writing style:

clarity, logical development, cohesion and tone

APA format, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and page length