Author/Editor		Poredoš, Pavel
Title		Zdravstveni problemi starostnikov
Translated title		Health problems in the elderly
Type		članek
Source		Zdrav Vestn
Vol. and No.		Letnik 73, št. 10
Publication year		2004
Volume		str. 753-6
Language		slo
Abstract		Slovenian population is getting older, similarly to the ones in a developed world. Population aging leads to changes in society, social and economic relations. With aging there is a greater need for health insurance. In old age, chronic diseases amount and that worsens an organism functional state and consequences are predominantly permanent. By decrease of mental and physical abilities, a dependency is increasing and thus a quality of life is lowered. Physical limitations are most frequently caused by movement problems found in the elderly. The quality of aging is made worse also by vision and hearing disorders and psychological changes. In health treatment of elderly, clinicians should not strive only to prolong their lives but also to improve a quality of aging. If we want to ensure a quality aging, we need to focus our activities on prevention of chronic diseases and improving the physical and psychological rehabilitation of the elderly after treatment and thus enable them to return to normal functioning to preserve their independency and mobility till each individual's late age. Geriatric medicine has its peculiarities which means that clinicians need to possess special skills which are nowadays rare in Slovenia. Instead of introducing special institutions for the elderly we need to improve our knowledge of disease characteristics in old age and special needs of the old population.
Summary		Slovenska populacija se, podobno kot v razvitem svetu, stara. Staranje ima za posledico spremembo družbenih, socialnih in ekonomskih razmerij. S staranjem pa se tudi zvečujejo potrebe po zdravstvenem varstvu. V starosti se kopičijo kronične bolezni, ki poslabšujejo funkcionalno stanje organizma in neredko puščajo trajne posledice. Z upadanjem duševnih in telesnih sposobnosti se povečuje odvisnost od okolice, s tem pa se zmanjšuje kakovost življenja. Telesne omejitve so najpogosteje posledica bolezni gibal, ki jih ima večina starejših oseb. Kakovost staranja v veliki meri poslabšujejo tudi motnje vida in sluha ter duševne spremembe. Pri zdravstveni obravnavi starostnikov ne sme biti naš cilj zgolj podaljševanje življenja, temveč kakovostno staranje. Če hočemo zagotoviti kakovostno staranje, moramo več aktivnosti usmeriti v preprečevanje zlasti kroničnih bolezni, potrebno bi bilo izboljšati telesno in duševno rehabilitacijo starostnikov po preboleli bolezni, ki omogoča povrnitev normalnega delovanja zaradi bolezni prizadetih organov, ohranitev samostojnosti, pomičnosti in s tem neodvisnosti slehernega posameznika do pozne starosti. Geriatrična medicina ima svoje posebnosti, zato kakovostna zdravstvena obravnava starostnikov zahteva poznavanje posebnih veščin, ki pa jih pri nas žal obvladajo le redki zdravstveni delavci. Bolj kot posebne zdravstvene ustanove za stare potrebujemo znanje o značilnosti bolezni v starosti in o posebnih potrebah starostnikov.
Descriptors		MORBIDITY GERIATRICS AGING AGED CHRONIC DISEASE HEALTH SERVICES FOR THE AGED