Demographic And Disease Trends And Healthcare Services - Research Paper Example

How demographic and disease trends are likely to influence health care delivery services in the future? Population growth is the biggest problem facing by the mankind at present. Even though heavily populated countries such as India and China have taken strong measures to control population growth, recent statistics show that none of these measures yielded the desired results. China has implemented a strict one child policy/family whereas in India one or two child/family policy is implemented. The cases of developed countries and regions such as America and Europe are also not an exception. One of the major problems associated with population growth or changing demographic trends is with respect to the effective delivery of healthcare services. Medical science has advanced a lot so that people of modern era are getting much better medical services compared to the people in the past. Many of the uncontrollable diseases in the past are under the control of medical science at present because of the huge growth in science and technology. However life style changes and changing food habits have brought new challenges in front of healthcare professionals. For example, modern generation is less interested in having some kind of physical workouts. Moreover, they are consuming fatty foods quite frequently. As a result of these changing food and life habits, obesity, coronary problems, diabetes and cancer like health problems are increasing day by day. Aging is another phenomenon which influences healthcare delivery services. This paper analyses how demographic and disease trends are likely to influence health care delivery services in the future? The current age composition of the U.S. population and the projections for the future can be better understood from the following table. U.S. Population, by Age Group: 1950-2050 Age/year 1950 1975 2000 2025 2050 Number (in thousands, rounded) Total 152,272 215,972 282,171 357,452 439,010 0-19 51,673 75,646 80,576 94,254 112,940 20-64 88,202 117,630 166,522 199,290 237,523 65-65+ 12,397 22,696 35,074 63,907 88,547 Percent in Age Group (rounded) 0-19 33.9 35.0 28.6 26.4 25.7 20-64 57.9 54.5 59.0 55.8 54.1 65-65+ 8.1 10.5 12.4 17.9 20.2 Source: CRS computations based on data in the U.S. January 21, 2011 based on the Census Bureau’s December 2010 data release. (Shrestha & Heislerp.14) From the above table, it is evident that the percentage of older population is increasing since 1950. The percentage of older population in 1950 was 8.15 of the total population and it is around 12.8% now. It is assumed that the percentage of older population may increase in coming years and it may reach 20.2% in 2050. “Stated another way, one in five persons in 2050 will be aged 65 or older” (Shrestha & Heisler, p.13). Changing demographics and environmental factors are contributing heavily to the aging processes or increased life span of people. Better healthcare delivery and better living standards are the reasons for the increased life spans of the people. Moreover, medical science has advanced a lot and majority of the threatening diseases in the past are under the control of human now. Current generation are practicing healthy diet habits which in turn improve their health conditions and life span. However, there are certain environmental factors which are causing challenges in maintaining proper health. For example, increased use of fertilizers, chemicals and pesticides in the agricultural field are causing huge health problems to the people. In other words, modern food items contain toxic ingredients which are causing severe diseases such as cancer, coronary problems, diabetes etc. It should be noted that a fast food culture is spreading rapidly among Americans irrespective young or old. Fast foods are easy to cook and cheaper than the conventional food. Moreover, they are tastier than conventional foods. However, these food items are causing big threats to the sustainment of human health. Aging trend may increase in coming years also which is evident from some of the recent statistics published by the authorities in United States. In 2005, there were 21 million women aged 65 years and over living in the United States, Between 1950 and 2005 the number of women aged 65 years and over more than tripled, increasing from 6.5 million to 21 million (1,2). Moreover, the U.S. Census Bureau projects that by 2030, the number of women aged 65 years and over will double to 40 million, and by 2050 it will reach 48 million (Robinson, p.1) The case of male community is also not an exception. It should be noted that breast cancer was a chronic disease which caused death of many of the older women in the past. Nowadays, effective treatment options are there for breast cancer. Same way, heart attack was the major reason for death among old people in the past. Now better treatment options are available to prevent heart attacks. Some sociologists argue that aging is a triumph as well as a tragedy at the same time. This is because of the fact that many of the old people in this world are struggling to get proper healthcare services as well as care from their beloved ones nowadays. Memory loss is a common problem facing by the aged people. When people become older, their body undergoes lot of physiological changes. These physiological changes may cause memory loss like problems. Physical and mental exercises are required to prevent memory losses among older generation. In other words, healthcare professionals should educate the public about leading an active life even during older age to stay fit in all respects. Depression is another major health problem among the older generation. It is often said that an idle man’s mind is devils paradise. Old people often lead a lonely life because of the professional, personal and educational commitments of their children. Lonely life often forces them to think about the negative sides or darker sides of life. In order to prevent such negative thoughts, older generation should get the company of some other people. Rehabilitation centers or Cheshire homes can do a lot in helping old people who lead lonely life. Steiner (2008) pointed out that many of the American hospitals are not much interested in taking care of the old people below 85 years of age. In his opinion; older people in high-ageing states make far greater use of post hospital home health care than in low-ageing states; and that, although individual-level clinical factors appear central to rehabilitative decisions, all states seem to use very old age (85-plus) as a proxy to determine who goes where, with low-ageing states also affected by structural constraints at the hospital and market levels (Steiner, 2008, p.205). American hospitals are keeping certain norms while taking care of the problems of the aged people. They have segregated aged people into two different categories; those who above the age of 85 and below the age of 85. In other words, old people who crossed the age of 85 are getting better healthcare compared to the people below the age of 85. This is because of the assumption that people below the age of 85 are able to survive the attack of chronic diseases. These assumptions are meaningless as statistics show that cancer and coronary diseases like severe health problems are affecting all the people irrespective of their age. For example, majority of the Americans suffering from cancer disease are people who are below the age of 85. However, American hospitals are giving more attention to the cases of people over the age of 85. According to Fischer and Schaffer (2012), the budget allocation for the caring of old people in America is inadequate. In their opinion, “The lion’s share of the aging budget, both federal and state, is for health and long-term care. Although some publicly supported programs provide activities for senior citizens, the budget for these projects is almost negligible”(Fischer and Schaffer, 2012). In short, the government should increase the funding for the caring of aged people. American hospitals should physical and mental health instead of age while giving attention to the old people. There are plenty of people above the age of 85 who are still stronger. Same way there is plenty of weak people below the age of 85. So, healthcare delivery services should ultimately consider the heath rather than age while dispersing healthcare to Americans. Obesity is another major problem, causing severe concerns to older generation. Even if the skyrocketing rates of obesity level off, 42 percent of Americans will be obese and 11 percent will be severely obese by the year 2030, a new report predicts. That means 32 million more people will be tipping the scales in the wrong direction, costing the country billions, according a study by American Journal of Preventive Medicine (U.S. Obesity Rate Set to Soar, Costing Billions: CDC). Obesity seems to be the major healthcare problem in America irrespective of young or old. It should be noted that obesity has the ability to cause severe health problems such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, coronary problems etc. It affects the mobility of the people considerably and as a result of that the excess calories consumed by a person is get deposited in his body in the form of fat. Since advancements in technology are making life simpler and easy, hard works and physical activities may come down in future. The discovery of computer and internet like technologies helped human kind to reduce physical works considerably. However reduction of physical work is affecting human health in one way or another. In short, obesity trends may increase in future also unless people take deliberate actions to improve their physical activities. According to what’s known as the Expensive Tissue Hypothesis, early humans compensated for the energy used in their heads by cutting back on the energy used in their guts; as man’s cranium grew, his digestive tract shrank. This forced him to obtain more energy-dense foods than his fellow-primates were subsisting on, which put a premium on adding further brain power. The result of this self-reinforcing process was a strong taste for foods that are high in calories and easy to digest; just as it is natural for gorillas to love leaves, it is natural for people to love funnel cakes (Kolbert). Obesity may cause lot of physical as well as mental problems among young and adult people. Obese people may face lot of harassments in the society and their self esteem could be damaged as a result of that. Such people often try to stay away from others as a defense mechanism to avoid bullying or harassments. It should be noted that socializing is a much needed activity for human to maintain his mental health. Less interest in socializing may cause depression like mental problems among obese people. Over eating is another psychological problem seen among obese people. Obese people often find pleasure in overeating. They body as well as mind always force them to consume more foods. Consumption of more foods by obese people may intensify their overweight related problems. Health problems related to obesity can be prevented by educating the public related to the importance of practicing healthy diet and life styles. In American schools and colleges, physical education should be given more importance. With the help of advanced technologies, health care delivery to aged people in future can be enhanced further. For example, telemedicine are practicing widely in America at present. Moreover telephonic counseling is also getting popularity nowadays. Telephonic counseling can help aged people to avoid loneliness and stay in touch with somebody when they feel the necessity of it. According to a proposal by Obama, all Americans should implant an RFID Chip in their bodies so that their health conditions can be monitored continuously. RFID chips may help aged people more than anybody else. Works Cited Fischer, L.R. and Schaffer, K.B. “The Future of Old Age”. 2012. Web. July 09, 2012. Kolbert, Elizabeth. “Why are We So Fat?”. 2009. The New Yorker. July 20, 2009. Web. July 09, 2012. Robinson, Kristen. “Trends in Health Status and Health Care Use Among Older Women”. 2007. Web. July 09 2012. Shrestha Laura B. & Heisler Elayne J. “The Changing Demographic Profile of the United States”. 2011. Web. July 09 2012. Steiner, A. (2008). “Does It Matter How You Slice It? The Relationship Between Population Ageing and Use of Hospital and Posthospital Care in the United States”. Ageing and Society (1996), 16 : pp 205-232 “U.S. Obesity Rate Set to Soar, Costing Billions: CDC”. 2012. Web. July 09 2012. Read More