A PROACTIVE APPROACH TO LYMPHEDEMA TREATMENT: A PATIENT’S EDUCATIONAL GUIDE

Lymphedema affects between 90 and 250 million people worldwide, yet there is little information about it, and it is poorly understood by the medical community (Manrique et al., 2022). This too often results in patients not receiving proactive treatment for their symptoms. Proactive intervention increases the patient’s ability to engage in meaningful occupations, socialization, quality of life, mobility, and confidence (Dominick et al., 2014; Lu et al., 2015; Warren et al., 2007; Yarmohammadi et al., 2021)

Evidence for Planning as an Intervention Approach for Adults Transitioning Into Retirement

The retirement age in America is continuing to become older. Seven in ten working adults in the Baby Boomer generation said that they expect to work past age 65 or are already past that age and are still working. Of this generation, 42% would prefer to transition into their retirement by lessening their hours at their current career (Edlerson, 2019). Those who are choosing to retire later in their life are prolonging this transition to delay the loss of a meaningful occupation that they have held for several decades. For this critically appraised topic, the authors have operationally defined retirement as the period of life when an individual is no longer participating in the occupation of paid work. The transition into retirement should be a dynamic process that is adapted for each unique individual (Hurtado et al., 2019). This multifaceted process is composed of preparation done while the individual is still employed, the transition of role changes from worker to retiree, and continually adjusting to new roles and activities (Eagers et al., 2018). This major transition from worker to retiree can bring on confusion and loss of identity