Health Care Population Analysis

In Josh Barro’s article, he mainly discusses the theme of Social Security. He explains how if we raise the age for people to access Social Security, that will harm poorer Americans who have a lower life expectancy due to the type of work they do or because of lack of other proper benefits. In the video, Coming of Age in and Aging America, they discuss the main theme of aging in America and the difficulties and obstacles these individuals face on a daily basis, especially in terms of Social Security. The video covers a variety of situations that the elderly face and how America can work to make the lives easier especially in a world where our elderly population in growing. One example was in a hospital where they were able to integrate new techniques and systems to make it easier for people to work longer into their lives. The main themes of Sharon Kaufman’s journal article were health care and the reform of current plans, and discussion of life-prolonging procedures. She discusses the three main procedures used in the U.S. which are organ transplantation, cardiac procedures, and cancer treatments. Finally, Segal’s text covers the themes and policies related to aging and elderly population. She discusses the acts and programs that have been put into place such as the Older Americans Act of 1965, social security, pensions, and Medicare/Medicaid, along with a variety of others.

With the generation of baby boomers approaching senior age by 2025, it may be difficult for them to adjust to the new technology and implement it in their everyday activities. Baby boomers are commonly known for the rejection of modern conveniences in exchange for traditional technology and for traditional values. So how will this cripple the changing trend of life for the aging population and there to decisions of living at home alone and last but not lease Medicare and the risk factors of making such a life changing decision? These issues create a group who are underserved and vulnerable. Underserved because of the barriers they encounter when caring for themselves by trying to eat healthy and the inadequate health care cost. Vulnerable because of the economic disadvantages and the health conditions they may face while dealing with this financial burden. If these problems are not address we will a heavy burden in our healthcare system.

More people are living much longer lives than in years past. People are very surprised to be living much longer lives than they thought they would. Health care has played a large part in patient longevity. There are many normal changes that come along with aging, however, because people are living longer these normal changes can become chronic problems. Common aging problems that can make the older adult a vulnerable population are reviewed in Gerontological Nursing (Tabloski, 2014) and can include nutritional needs, medication management, sleep changes, oral or mouth care, renal problems and musculoskeletal concerns. According to A Profile of Older Americans: 2013 (http://www.hhs.gov), there are a large amount

After reading The Age of Dignity by Ai-Jen Poo, I realize that she brings out many good concerns and information about where our country is heading in the upcoming years. Throughout her book we discuss our golden years and the care that we should be able to receive and how crucial it is for our personal wellbeing, independence, and securing our own futures. The 85 plus age group is one of the fastest growing demographics in the US and Poo talks about the possible solutions that need to be created in our infrastructure before we have an even bigger crisis on our hands. It’s a fact that the elderly baby boomers cohort is growing faster than we can care for them, this shows that we need to implement a new system that will be able to care and support our many elders in their life, and how we can do it with financial competency and dignity.

Many people are living longer and sometimes the elderly are unable to take care of themselves and will depend almost 100% on the care of others. The U.S as with many other developed countries must find ways to cope and address this shift in demographics. John Beard, the department head of Ageing and Life Course in World Health Organization stated with the rapid aging of populations, finding the right model for long-term care becomes more and more urgent. Recent records from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates that about 12 million men and women who are over the age of 65 will need long term care by the year 2020. Furthermore, a study done by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services stipulates that four out of 10 people who will reach the age of 65 will stay in a nursing home at some point in their lives.

Data from the Census Bureau tell us that in 2015, there are around 47.8 million Americans age 65 and older, up from about 25.5 million just 35 years ago; demographers predict that in another 35 years, there will be nearly 88 million Americans in this age group. The rate of growth of the “oldest old” population—those age 85 and older—is even more dramatic: Their numbers currently stand at approximately 6.3 million, but by 2050, that number will have almost tripled, to 18.7 million Americans. This population explosion is unprecedented in history, and the resulting demographic shift is causing profound social and economic changes.

Just like other parts of the world, the United States is no exceptional, it is an aging society. Between the year 2000 and the year 2050, the number of the elderly is predicted to increase by 135%. Again, the population of the persons aged 85 years and above, which is the group that will mostly require health and long-term services, is predicted to

These “baby boomers” are getting to the age where many of them require multiple visits to a primary care doctor as well as a variety of medications for all of the problems of their deteriorating bodies. This poses a great problem due to the fact that there are too many patients to be treated by the amount of primary doctors we currently have.

The aging population of the United States along with a healthcare financial system not adequate to cover the cost will be a major factor in the future of healthcare. There is a disparity in health care related socioeconomic status, age of emerging population and quality of care that require new modes of care to address patient affordability, knowledge, physician cultural competency, bias and the scope of health insurance coverage (Fiscella, 2002). The population of aging Americans will increase to 3.4 million by 2020 due to the influx of over the age of 65 retiring resulting in a 21.6% in older Americans requiring health services (Longevity, 2011). In addition, this emerging population will require additional services to an increase in life

This overall population increase will also be accompanied with an increase in the portion of population that is over the age of 65, thereby qualifying for Medicare and usually requiring more medical treatment (Petterson et al, 2012). Based on Census data from 2010 the portion of the population that will be over 65 years will increase by 60% by 2025 (Petterson et al, 2012). This shift seems even more substantial when compared to the projected data in the increase of population under 18 years to only increase by 13% by 2025 (Petterson et al, 2012). Analyzing these projections allows the conclusion to be drawn that our population in the next decade will continue to age and grow (Petterson et al, 2012). This coupled growth will mean that the demands on the healthcare system and specifically primary care will increase accordingly. It is estimated that the number of visits to a primary care providers per individual will increase from 1.60 annually to 1.66 in 2025 (Petterson et al, 2012). This additional need that the strain already felt by the education programs to educate more providers will be increasingly amplified by the needs of the population (Petterson et al,

When explaining the implication based on demographic you really have to understand the meaning when dealing with health care. Demographic is the study of a population the based on race, sex and age. Demographic also is the study of level of education and income level among others. The government uses demographics and other corporations and non-government organizations. When the government uses these demographics to determine the population and characteristics, this includes economic and development trends this is very important as the size of the population will change over the time due to economic circumstances. With the population of elders that have the life expectancy of 65 would most likely need healthcare and other long-term services.

A retirement crisis can be seen looming on the horizon. Countless financial writers have interviewed analysts and actuaries documenting studies showing a large percentage of American workers will be financially unprepared for retirement. The effects will be devastating for an aging population facing increasing life expectancies. The cost to the U.S. economy and to those still working to support the financially

Population health is the wave of the future. Darves says “it’s the latest health care catch phrase and it has enormous implications” (2015, p. 6). However, when communities, cities and town are healthy the cost of that group’s healthcare is reduced. This is the ultimate goal of Hinden’s information and a growing number of varied populations. However, the effort involved must be concerted for the delivery model to succeed. The benefit of a concerted approach to population healthcare is that all care providers (clinical and nonclinical) take the whole health of the patient into account because all care providers now have a vested interest in the quality of care for which they are being collectively paid to provide. This is a new concept for most American providers accustom to seeking the maximum fee-for-service allowable and not always treating the whole patients because of volume based patient care practices.

There are several population trends that are important to the planning, financing, and delivery of healthcare today. These trends include demographic trends, geographic trends, and psychographic trends. Among the demographic trends is the age of the population. It is estimated that by 2030 more than twenty percent of Americans will be age 65 and older (McCleery, P. G., 2015). What does this mean for healthcare? With the population being older, healthcare will need to focus more on chronic and long term illnesses. This also affects financing healthcare because chronic and long term conditions tend to cost more money by either the family or insurance company.

According to the Healthy People Database, in 2010 the aging population was estimated at 40 million, this number is expected rise to nearly 70 million by the year 2030 (National Center for Health Statistics, 2000). At the forefront of health concerns for this aging population will be the intervention, management and treatment of chronic diseases. This increase in both this specific population as well as the required medical care will place a significant amount of stress on an already distressed healthcare system, which in turn will affect the availability of recourses and costs. Including patients in their self care