...Health Care Reform Project Angela Thomas HCS/440 December 16, 2913 Caryn Callahan The Aging Population in America The current growth in the number of older adults in the United States are reaching unprecedented numbers in the nation’s history with an expectation of reaching nearly 89 million people by age 65 or older by year 2050. The rapid U.S. growth can be attributed to two realities: Americans are living longer than in previous decades; the twentieth century ushered in effective public health strategies and advances in medical treatment contributing to a dramatic increase in average life expectancy. The post -World War II “baby boomer” generation. The leading edge of the baby boom generation reached age 65 in 2011, and every other day roughly 10,000 people will celebrate their 65th birthday. So, by 2030 the last baby boomer will celebrate their 65th birthday leaving a population of 72 million older Americans (CDC, 2013). This population has wide-ranging implications for virtually every facet of American society. At each point in the lifespan of baby boomers, the United States has felt and been changed by the impact of their numbers and needs—from booming sales in commercial baby food in the late 1940s, to construction of new schools during the 1950s, to the housing construction boom of the 1970s and 1980s. The 30-year gain in life expectancy within the span of a century had never before been achieved. Diseases that once claimed lives have been eradicated while...
Words: 969 - Pages: 4
...Getting and Staying Active in Later Life On the occasion of International Day of Older Persons, ASM ATIQUR RAHMAN discusses the plight and prospects of ageing in 21st century Bangladesh. Old age is neither a disease nor an individual problem; rather, it has become a worldwide challenge that must be addressed globally. "Later life" is unavoidable, inevitable, universal and excessively troublesome. No one can stop the process of ageing. The quality of life and the rate of ageing both vary considerably depending on a number of factors such as education, occupation, purchasing capacity, lifestyle, food habit, residential location, belief and culture, etc. Surprisingly, ageing takes place within the context of family members, kin, neighbours, friends, work associates and the state. Lifelong preparations, making intergenerational linkages, using appropriate technology, developing right-based societal relationships, upholding religious values at the personal level, political commitment and governmental undertaking at the macro-level can help ensure a healthy ageing and active later life. Policy responses to ageing until now have tended to focus only on the provision of medical care and income security for older persons, which remain important but have been inadequate compared to the rate of ageing occurring now and projected to intensify in the coming decades. Population ageing is a by-product of scientific development in human societies bound to remain a dominant social...
Words: 3468 - Pages: 14
...“To a large extent, current research and development and government policies have helped to ease the aging process.” Discuss this statement in relation to your particular field of study or interest (e.g. economics, science, medicine, social policy, architecture, psychology, technological inventions). “Population ageing is both a triumph and a challenge” (Lim, 2008). With the advances in economics and medical development as well as better health systems, Singaporeans now are having longer life expectancy than they used to have in the past. Current research has shown that Singapore is one of the fastest ageing populations among Asia. However, the drop in birth rates over the past years has resulted in a smaller ratio of younger Singaporeans. Chan (2000) states that as there are fewer people to take care of the elderly, taking care of the elderly will rest on the government’s shoulder and this will has implications on the economy, financial security, living arrangement as well as health care system within the country (Chan, 2000). With researches done on the ageing population and the social policies, in terms of economy, living arrangement and health care system, implemented, these can help to ease the ageing process. In order to maintain financial security so that the problem of ageing population will not affect the economy, the government has come out with a few policies. As Singaporeans now live longer, they will thus have to work longer. The government promotes lifelong employability...
Words: 785 - Pages: 4
... | |Inclusion |To ensure disabled students to go to school and to receive the “proper support” in order | | |to succeed as a learner | |Deinstitutionalization |The process of replacing a long time stay psychiatric hospital with less isolated mental | | |health services | |Special education |Education designed for students who have special needs that focus on individual needs | Part II Identify 2 or 3 issues faced by the aging population. 1. neglect 2. loneliness 3. abuse Answer the following questions in 150 to 250 words each: • What is being done...
Words: 1183 - Pages: 5
...Why do we have a negative attitude towards old age and what do people do in order not to look old? Steve Olela BA/03004/09 Maseno University Abstract This paper examines why there is very high stereotyping and discrimination against the aged. It also looks into how the aged try not to look old so that they do not get to be discriminated against. It is common to find people making assumptions and having negative attitude towards the aged. Why we have a negative attitude towards old age The society has discriminatory perception against the old especially the youth or young for example in the 2013 Kenya elections, the young contesting for political seats refered to the old as “analogue” and deserve to go and relax at home while referring to themselves as the “digital” . ‘People have a negative attitude towards the old because the old people are associated with health issues and death’ (Hall and Baley, 2008) and so there is the fear of old age and therefore viewed negatively. It is perceived that the old people require regular checkups and fear of death due to the many health problems they experience (Arnold-Cathalifaud, 2008). Working with older patients is not typically viewed as desirable because the young view them as stubborn and have traits the young would want to always avoid. The old people are also associated with the negative body image. Physical attributions and appearances is a factor or a reason why people develop negative attitudes towards the old age. ‘It is...
Words: 972 - Pages: 4
...Populations Special populations include individuals requiring help with finding resources, programs, and services to live a normal life. I researched special populations including people with disabilities, people with HIV/AIDS, addicts, senior citizens, and many more. After reviewing the different vulnerable populations and seeing the challenges each has I have decided to focus on the senior population. This is an area I am passionate about and hope to work as an advocate for in the future. The following information will address the special needs of senior citizens, programs and services for the aging, and the multicultural issues faced by this vulnerable population. The Senior Population The senior population usually refers to people who have reached the age of 65. This population is vulnerable because seniors typically are on predetermined incomes, live alone or with an aging spouse, have some form of debilitating disease, and lack the ability to perform daily activities. This vulnerable population is continuing to grow as the Baby Boomers have reached senior citizen status. According to the Washington State Office of the Attorney General (2009), The United States is in the midst of huge demographic shifts, with a third of [the] population reaching retirement age in the next few years. On January 1, 2006, [B]aby [B]oomers began turning 60 at the rate of one every 7.5 seconds. The criminally minded stalk this growing population of seniors, waiting to pounce on those...
Words: 1259 - Pages: 6
...senior or nursing homes, assisted living and in-home nurses. In the United States, continuum of care is a concept involving an integrated system of care that guides and tracks patients over time through various services. It allows a patient to have their care managed effectively from basic care services, such as prescriptions to making appointments, to more advanced care services, such as hospital care, critical care or long-term care services. It creates a medical community where the doctors and ancillary staff, which are involved in a patient’s treatments, all communicate with one another regarding a patient’s health. Long-term health care is one of the greatest challenges facing the health care delivery system today. This is due to the aging population growing extremely fast. The first of the baby boomers generation is joining the already elderly in the retirement age and there are a lot more individuals from that generation to reach the retirement age as well. The resources used for long-term care are also extremely expensive. Long-term care costs the delivery system a huge amount of money. It requires many resources such as home care, assisted living, adult daycare, respite care, hospice care and nursing homes. http://www.longtermcarelink.net/eldercare/long_term_care.htm http://www.ask.com/answers/14671401/what-is-continuum-of-care-services-in-the-united-states...
Words: 269 - Pages: 2
...Discrimination of Age in current world Discrimination in age is the kind of pigeonholing that encompasses the judgments in contradiction of the aged people. Fundamentally discrimination in age is the form of philosophies and discernments which are based upon subordination and prejudice. The “Discrimination in age” was first settled by the great Dr. Richard Rotty who decorated this issue against the seniors. He described ageism as the amalgam of three interrelated elements; there were detrimental approach towards older people, aging process and old age; discrimination against the old aged people as well as organizational practices and policies to propagate that stereotyping. Besides the term also describe insights against the youths by have overlooking their ideas on just by considering them as immature and inexperienced ones and always treat them as a unfeeling device that should only followed the predefined commands and principles. Discrimination in age in prevalent dialect and age studies typically refers to depressing biased practices against the old people, middle year aged people, adolescents and children. There is several kind of age-related bias such as Autism is a tendency towards adults, that describe as prejudiced against all young people who are characterized as adults. Gang Bangism is the type of biasness against the other sex people in the penetration of sex, "ism" describes inequality in society against grownup peoples but Discrimination in age is not same as...
Words: 353 - Pages: 2
...80517964 The World Turns Gray by Philip J. Longman talks about how global aging will challenge the world’s economic well-being. The economic problem on earth isn’t that we will be overcrowded and we will not have enough resources, the real problem is aging. This means that since in 1970 fertility rates where higher than now, young people are taking care of old people. In few word they’re more old people than young people, and this is a big problem. Over the next 25 years, the number of persons of pensionable age will rise by 70 million, while the working-age people will rise by only 5 millions. Words I learned in this reading: Childbearing age: age of giving birth Retirement: Withdrawal from one's occupation, business, or office Plummeting: To fall straight down; plunge Diminishing: To make smaller or less or to cause to appear so. Unheralded: not previously announced, notified, or expected In my opinion, this is actually a really big problem and this reading made me think a lot of things. People about my age will be suffering this problems, because for example my grandmother has 4 brothers and 4 sisters, my mom has 3 sisters and I only have 1 brother, so I think this is a clear example of what is happening. And I’m worried because when I start working they will be a lot of retired people so we will have to maintain that. And I think making people work for more time is a good...
Words: 253 - Pages: 2
...Demographic Paper Pedreed Anjahal HCA 490 September 19, 2011 Michael Veal Demographic Paper DEMOGRAPHICS It is a proven fact. With all the advances in modern health care, people are living longer. As someone starts to get older, they start feeling the consequences of aging and strive to find a healthier life style. Still, there comes a point when many people require the professional need of long term health care services. As healthy as today’s population is, illness is usually comes as something unexpected. Upon such an eventuality, a person may require some type of specialized health care needs. POPULATION CONTROL With the Baby Boomer generation decides to retire or stops aging at a phenomenal rate, people requiring long term health care needs are on the rise still. People are living longer and their health care needs may be beyond that, which can be managed by family members. Fortunately, within the current health care field there is a wide variety of systems available for helping to take care of an elderly family member. It is even possible for the family to take the elderly person into his or her home. Alternatively, the family may have to decide to place the elderly member in a nursing home for long-term care. Whichever choice is deemed best, it is always critically important that the elderly person feels comfortable in the environment in which he or she is placed (Feder, Komisar & Niefeld, 2000). According to United States society census...
Words: 914 - Pages: 4
... (Managing the health care needs of an aging population) Mody, L., Miller, D., McGloin, J., Freeman, M., Marcantonio, E., Magaziner, J., & Studenski, S. (2008). Recruitment and retention of older adults in aging research. Journal Of The American Geriatrics Society, 56(12), 2340-2348. doi:10.1111/j.1532- 5415.2008.02015.x Retrieved August 4th, 2013 from EBSCOhost. The author give reason why the elderly is less represented in clinical research, even though they make up a large percentage of the population. The author provides data which give reason such as complicated diagnosis, and preapproval before being considered eligible participants. Wiet, S. (2005). Future of caring for an aging population: trends, technology, and caregiving. Studies In Health Technology And Informatics, 118220-230. Retrieved August 4th, 2013 from EBSCOhost . The Baby-Boomer will eventually make up the largest part of the population and this article cover how technology will affect them, because they are going to live at least three decades longer. Caring for them will also cause stress on family members who will act as caregiver and have a family of their own, technology will play an important part in the quality of life for the elderly. A primer on aging, part I: The aging process: Demographics and age-related changes. (1999)....
Words: 314 - Pages: 2
...Demographic Paper HCS/490 February 17, 2014 Professor David Dye, MPA Introduction The world is facing a situation without precedent: We soon will have more older people than children and more people at extreme old age than ever before. As both the proportion of older people and the length of life increase throughout the world, key questions arise. Will population aging be accompanied by a longer period of good health, a sustained sense of well-being, and extended periods of social engagement and productivity, or will it be associated with more illness, disability, and dependency? How will aging affect health care and social costs? Are these futures inevitable, or can we act to establish a physical and social infrastructure that might foster better health and wellbeing in older age? By 2050, the U.S. Census predicts that 19.6 million American workers will be 65 years or older, roughly 19 percent of the total U.S. workforce. In fact, the number of individuals in the labor force who are 65 years or older is expected to grow by 75 percent while the number of individuals in the workforce who are 25 to 54 is only expected to grow by 2 percent. By 2016, one-third of the total U.S. workforce will be 50 years or older — a group that may number 115 million by 2020 (Heidkamp, Mabe, & DeGraaf, 2012). The Baby Boomers make up a significant portion of the U.S. population, and, as the Boomers age, the percentage of Americans over 65, those that utilize the bulk of health care...
Words: 1787 - Pages: 8
...GROWING OLDER IN AMERICA The United States more than ever, is experiencing a dramatic increase in the number of people who live to old age. An increase in seniors is attributed to advances in science, technology and medicine leading to reductions in infant and maternal mortality, infectious and parasitic diseases, occupational safety measures and improvements in nutrition and education. This occurrence is creating challenges for Americans of all ages as they deal with Social Security, health care, housing, employment and other national issues that are important to an aging population. The number of Americans living over the age of 65 has dramatically increased in the past years. People are beginning to live well past retirement and later stages of their lives because they have remained healthy and productive. Given the fact that America is aging, it is important to have resources available for American’s who will soon dip into retirement funds and Medicare. A good question to ask as America becomes populated by more and more elderly is, “How can the unique needs and desires of each person be appropriately assessed and addressed in a rapidly changing health care environment?” In 2011 “baby boomers” began to turn 65 which accounted for 14 percent of the U.S. population, that percentage will increase to 20 by the year 2030 (APA). The average life expectancy for men is now 73 years and for women it is 80 years. These baby boomers will have a significant impact on American society...
Words: 2406 - Pages: 10
...1. No, Social Security is not based on the same principle as private insurance. Social Security does not follow a savings and investment model, it taxes current workers and uses the revenues to finance benefits for existing retirees. The Social Security benefits of current workers will be funded to them when they retire by the future generation of working people. Therefore, Social Security can be described as an intergenerational income-transfer program. 3. I do think that workers should be allowed to invest part of their Social Security taxes into a PRA. Knowing that I have paid social security taxes for nearly 20 years now and that I have 30 more years before I reach retirement age, it concerns me that the Social Security deficit continues to grow. After paying into Social Security for 50 years, I would hate to see my generation get to retirement age and not receive their rightfully earned benefits. I think allowing workers to invest part of their benefits into a PRA will ensure that they can retire without worry and be allowed to pass this down to heirs as well. 4. Social Security does a disservice to blacks due to their low life expectancy rate. Blacks pay into the Social Security fund at the same rate that whites and Hispanics do but due to their low life expectancy rates, may not see many benefits, if any. Whites have higher life expectancies and Hispanics even higher then Whites. Blacks may feel that they are being taxed to fund the retirement of Whites and...
Words: 387 - Pages: 2
...Summary {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} {text:bookmark} {text:toc-mark-start} Standing on the main corner of a Sydney or Melbourne street one can hear various and different languages and dialects from around the world. Recent decades have coincided with the rapid globalisation in Australia society, due to a main reason is the government’s immigration program as skilled worker migration. This program has been very much impacted on Australia labour force. According to Australia penetrates into the ageing society, a serious skilled labour shortage is occurred in many industries. {text:toc-mark-end} {text:toc-mark-end} {text:toc-mark-end} Especially, the nursing industry is mainly affected by the aging population issue. Because of falling mortality rate, life expectancy and declining fertility rate, demand for nursing workforce is rapidly increasing in number. So, the solution that the government came up with the shortage of nurses was the General Skills Migration where overseas nurses can work in Australia. Through the skilled worker program, as many as number of lack of nursing labour force could be replaced by immigrated nurses. Introduction Understanding and respect for different culture is one of valuable moral principles in these days as multiculturalism society. According to Bennett (n.d.), multiculturalism is defined that the emergence of the term is strongly associated with a growing realisation of the unintended social...
Words: 2435 - Pages: 10
