The Epidemiological Scope of the Illness - Essay Example

"The Epidemiological Scope of the Illness"' is a great example of epidemiological research.

The epidemiological scope covers incidence, prevalence, and management of diseases and is therefore an important concept in care provision. This paper explores the epidemiology of Schizophrenia and reports on a public health news article.

Incidence and effects of schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a commonly reported mental disorder. According to the World Health Organization, the illness is averagely reported in seven people out of 1000 adults with a higher rate among the age group of between 15 years and 35 years. The disorder’s incidence rate is however lower and is reported at three persons for every 10000 population. The type of mental disorder affects an estimated global population of 24 million, a majority of whom do not access adequate care for their conditions. This identifies a weakness in managing the disorder that can be more effectively treated at its earlier stages. Lack of treatment, therefore, means that a majority of the victims suffer adverse effects of the disorder that may never be treated and this majorly occurs in developing countries (Who, 2012). The disorder’s management is however unpredictable and even though treatment significantly manages symptoms, there are reported cases of increased severity and frequency of symptoms, alongside medication, especially during the illness’s initial stages. Controlled symptoms also reoccur upon the termination of medication (Vorvick, 2012).

The scope of the illness that affects cognitive ability, emotional stability, and a person’s behavior induces effects on family members. There are cases of social stigma towards the victim and the family, leading to emotional instability. The family is also prone to emotional instability that arises from the victim’s irrational behavior and attitude. Financial strain is another effect on the family as it seeks to manage the victim’s condition.

Findings from public health news

The news report on Medicare, ‘Medicare: Is 67 the new 65,’ is an editorial news publication in the Los Angeles Times under the paper’s health column. The article that was published on December 14, 2012, argues that increasing the minimum age for the elderly care coverage is not a solution to the increasing federal expenditure on healthcare, which the proposed age limit increment intends to resolve. According to the article, politicians, especially the republicans are proposing the change that will not help the government in making significant savings but will instead make healthcare more expensive. Medicare is, however, a burden to the federal government as it is one of the top three federal expenditures. Further, the increasing number of the program’s dependants means that expenditure on Medicare is bound to continue rising. With the current number of beneficiaries at about 50 million and a forecast that increasing the age limit will reduce the number of dependants by about seven million, by the year 2014, the federal government is expected to make some savings. This is, however, a short term and less comprehensive strategy because of the aging population, and the expenditure will remain high.

The effect of increasing the minimum age to 67 years would be a transfer of the care cost from the government to individuals and private institutions who will cover for either their employees or their retirees. It will also push individuals to private insurance, which is expensive or render the poor uncovered. Increasing the minimum age for Medicare cover is therefore not a solution to the problem of increasing federal expenditure on care, but will further increase overall care cost and long-term solutions with sacrifices from stakeholders are therefore necessary (Los Angeles Times, 2012).