Understanding the Factors Affecting Wound Healing and the Importance of Expert Clinicians in Canada

Who are the most frequent users of emergency services?

What is Diabetes?

Why patients from low-income families are susceptible to delayed wound healing as they did not return for follow-up visits for regular wound management?

The aging population of the elderly in Canada continues to grow. According to statistic Canada “The number of people aged 80 and older is expected to more than double to 3.3 million by 2036, according to a medium-growth scenario. The population aged 100 and older could triple to more than 20,000. A progressive increase in the population of seniors over the next decade is remarkable. A vulnerable adult might need community care because of age and illness, mental or other disability. Seniors are the most frequent users of emergency services, and their numbers are on the rise. They are also at risk of adverse health outcomes while in the hospital when compared to their younger counterparts. Frail patients are at increased risk of having prolonged hospital stays once admitted hospital. Pressure Sores are always common issues for nurses caring for the elderly and immobile patients. However, with increasing age, immobility and frailty, pressure sores are more likely to develop, and many assessment tools have been developed to try to ascertain the risk, and implement preventative measures to inhibit their development.

Defenseless people are incapable of protecting themselves against severe exploitation and significant harm. The reality is, when people get older, the wound heals slower because it reduces elasticity that prevents the injury from healing quickly. Therefore, a decade from now, the wound care field will be expanding and continuously growing and will be needing more expert clinicians to diagnose the root cause of the non-healing wound accurately. Education is essential to enhance the knowledge and skills of the wound clinician and develop a treatment that could speed up wound healing for older people. It will enable the seniors to maintain their quality of life and reduce the burden of wound care across Canada. The expert clinician also needs to address the gap and develop a broad wound plan and to establish a standardized approach in a wound care setting in the region. However, wound healing is the most complicated process to occur in the body and required a full-time commitment to achieve the desired goal of healing. 

Diabetes is a severe condition that is ever-growing in the world. According to the latest data of the Public Health Agency of Canada, about 3 million Canadian, 8.1%, are living with diabetes. It is a chronic condition that has no cure. There are many serious facts about diabetes and its complication. A common complication is insufficient blood flow means poor circulation. Poor circulation compounded to neuropathy nerve damage caused by the diabetic. If circulation is cut off in any part of the body too long, or if the infection left untreated, the piece becomes gangrenous and must be amputated. Minor cuts, wounds, and burns are unavoidable circumstances part of life. Of course, for people with diabetes, these medical condition lead to a serious health illness. A diabetic patient develops wounds that are slow to heal, and it takes longer to heal. Sometimes it never heals at all. Once the wound becomes infected and develops complications like foot ulcers, it will be a burden for the patient and, of course, in the healthcare system. Foot ulcers are painful and can eventually lead to foot amputation. Slow healing adversely affects patient’s quality of life. An infected wound can be a life-threatening and be fatal. A person with diabetes is a high risk of developing bacterial wound infection that might hinder wound healing. Diabetes is not only a tragic disease but very costly.

The socio-economic factor is another factor that impedes the healing process of the chronic wound. Social and economic influences health as people with lower income don’t have enough money to spend in their healthy food or buying their medication. Poor people have a lack of the underlying material necessities of life, and nutrition is one of the contributing factors in the wound healing process. Lack of nutrients, especially protein, vitamins, and minerals, are significantly impact the healing process. Proper nutrition helps heal the wound faster and fight infection. According to Theresa Hurd, “nutrition, a fundamental and by comparison, almost rudimentary approach to medicine, continues to be essential in dealing with wound-care management”.Patients from low-income families are susceptible to delayed wound healing as they did not return for follow-up visits for regular wound management, unlike the comparatively better economic status patients. The reason patients are not responding to their appointment could attribute to the other additional costs, such as attendant, travel, incidentals, etc. Therefore, it concludes that there is a clear impact of the socio-economic status of the patients in wound-management; and it is imperative to develop the proper approach in wound management to lessen the economic burden on the patients.