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Thank God for advanced medical technology, our elderly people have a chance to function in life once again. As I was seeking assistance for my mother, there was a lot of red tape I had to encounter. Being in the Counseling program has helped me to understand why I had to go through such red tape in order to get assistance for my mother??the company had to look out for its best interest??legally and ethically. Before I could get any assistance for my mother, she had to give an “Informed consent” to act on her behalf.
This Is the first step when dealing with an elderly errors. He or she must be in their “right” mind to make decisions about what he or she wants concerning their overall well-being. Of course, this is different when he or she is not cognitively functioning. That is why it is so important for family members to have a plan prior to their parents reaching a certain age and before a decline in mental functioning. After mom gave her Informed consent to act on her behalf, then different types of assessments were administered.
I cannot recall the names of the assessments, but questions were asked about her health, insurance, quality of life, weight, care, home, etc. These questions were important, because they would determine What type of services’ my mother can have. A counselor should consider certain ethical and legal Issues and concerns (stereotypes, socioeconomic status (SEES), biases, long-term and short-term care, caregivers, cultural, religious beliefs, cognitive and behavioral functioning, and end- of-life issues), that have a tremendous ‘effect’ on the assessments of his/her elderly client.
The counselor has to evaluate many of these issues within him/her self, because they can have a positive or negative influence on how the elderly person is treated. For example, as a counselor, I may have to travel to an elderly person’s home, which is not clean, smelly, or in poor condition, and render service to him/her without prejudice. I have heard some of my mother’s nurses make comments about her house being cleaned and they could not wait to get her; because the last house they left was nasty, or the person was not clean.
I did not like the comments, because the nurse violated the HIPPO law (peg. 353), and In Dalton, he or she has an obligation to report to ten person’s caseworker to nave something cone. My mother to know how someone else house or medical condition is like. 010 not n In conclusion, ethics in counseling the elderly are vital, because staying abreast on the laws and legal issues can influence what and how I do for this population, most importantly, my principles (ethics) in treating every individual with dignity and respect.