Disease Trends and the Delivery of Health Care Services

Disease Trends and the Delivery of Health Care Services

Vonda Jones

03/25/2012

HCA/240

Instructor: Carmen Spears

Disease Trends and the Delivery of Health Care Services

In the United States, physicians and all other health care employees are learning and adapting to a wide variety of health issues, diseases, and the changes that occur daily. This is because of how demographics and disease trends, such as, aging and obesity are influencing health care delivery services. Aging and obesity are becoming more of an issue in health care every year. New medical developments are allowing the population to live longer than they have in past years. However, the population is also increasing in weight, which is causing more health problems.

Over the next twenty years the older population in the United States will increase rapidly. This will cause a great impact on the health care system. The health care system will need to adapt to changes in the supply and demand for health care workers. The need for health care employees will increase with the growing older adult population that will consume a large portion of health care services in the United States. Adults over the age of 65 are becoming a fast growing age group, and with the increase in age come a higher risk of developing chronic illnesses and related disabilities.

As the years go by, older adults will consume more health care services than the population that is under the age of 65. The older population will also affect the nature of skills and services that health care system employees will be required to learn and provide, and the health care setting will also change. The “baby boom” generation, which includes people born between 1946 and 1964, is having an effect on the health care system already. By the year 2020 the United States will have an increase of about 19 million in population of older adults. Older adults are increasing in age due to better nutrition, medical care, and safety.

Aging will...