...HEALTH LITERACY, PERCEIVED MEDICATION BENEFITS, MEDICATION ADHERENCE AND HEALTH-SEEKING BEHAVIOUR AND MEDICATION ADHERENCE AMONG PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC ILLNESSES ATTENDING PRIMARY CARE IN RURAL COMMUNITIES OF IKENNE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, NIGERIA INTRODUCTION Background and Scope of the Study The main aim of any attempted remediation of a health problem of patients in a health system is to achieve certain desired health outcomes in the patient. These desired outcomes however might not be realizable if the patients are not strictly following prescribed treatment even when the health care professionals have performed their part effectively. The synergy of the relationship between low literacy, patient decision - making, and compliance with prescribed medication use makes it quite difficult to achieve the desired outcomes in medical therapy (Nutbeam, 2008, Atulomah et al, 2010) of overall increase in health status. Health literacy is defined as the capacity of individuals to obtain, interpret and understand basic health information and services, as well as the competence and motivation to use such information and services in ways that enhance their health (Institute of Medicine, 2004) Several studies have been have been conducted to evaluate peoples level of literacy and adherence to medication. Health literacy rates in developed countries have been conducted in the United States (USA), United Kingdom (UK), Australia, and Canada to evaluate the rate of health literacy...
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...medicine and treatment, and the resources available to caregivers the life expectancy of humans has increased greatly. With this increase come several changes in the health care market, concern for resources, and challenges to meet the necessary needs of this growing population of elderly health care consumers. Between 1900 and 2000, life expectancy in the U.S increased from 51 to 80 years for women and from 48 to 72 years for men (Population Reference Bureau, 2002). By 2030, it is estimated that 70 million U.S citizens will be over age 65, and 8.5 million Americans will be over age 85 (National Center for Health Statistics, 1999). This increasing elderly population will have a growing need for health care services, a need for resources available for not only the elderly health care consumers but also for those that care for them. With the increasing life expectancy comes an increasing prevalence of chronic disease. It is estimated that by 2040, almost 160 million people in the U.S, most of them elderly, will be living with chronic conditions (Population Reference Bureau, 2002). Chronic conditions pose a threat to the patient in the sense that their daily lives and quality of life may be affected. When considering the health care market this could cause a serious increase in medical need and costs for health care. If more patients are requiring transition to a nursing home, hospitalization, and regular treatment there will be an increased need for resources such as reasonably...
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...Identify a chronic illness and recommend what specific changes to an organization’s acute care model would benefit this patient. Acute care is crucial in treating specific episodes of a medical event but does not prove effective in combating chronic diseases. Hypertension, diabetes, and back pain are prevalent chronic conditions that we discussed in our group. mentioned that adding a routine screening process for common chronic conditions, such as hypertension, would be an excellent way to identify illness that typically do not get routine preventative care. stated that when treating chronic conditions, hospitals should only be reimbursed for the procedure or acute treatment with a minimal stay. Patients who require rehab or treatment post-procedure should be transferred to an outpatient facility specializing in post-acute care. Post-acute care settings like skilled nursing facilities and home health agencies can help patients with chronic conditions by reducing re-admissions and decreasing acute care length of stay. Acquiring these patients earlier will be greatly beneficial in reducing costs. Additionally, patient education that focuses on lifestyle changes and self-management are important for long term survival. Improved communication and care coordination between the physicians and other providers within the acute care settings can greatly impact patient outcomes. Since provider reimbursement is predominantly structured to reward acute services, what changes or...
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...Access to health care is limited in the rural setting so it becomes imperative to educate the patient regarding their illness, treatments, management, medications and when to seek medical assistance. Providing this information to the patient and educating them, the patient is better able to self-manage their condition. Kouame (2010), identified the key challenges facing the rural population as: low population density, limited to no services, disproportionate numbers of elderly, low-income, and minorities, social isolation and a high incidents of chronic illnesses. Health promotion is defined as the process of enabling people to increase control over and improved their health. Improving health literacy is key in empowering the rural community...
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...1. The medical treatment of chronic disease accounts for the majority of health care spending in the U.S. Identify and discuss three ways we could potentially reduce spending on chronic diseases while improving health status. Chronic diseases account for 75% of the nation’s health care spending. Chronic conditions are expected to last a year or more, bestow limits upon the patient’s, and may require ongoing care. They are significant and presently a growing challenge in the U.S. health care system. People with chronic conditions have significantly higher health care costs. It is expected that by 2020, U.S. will spend $685 billion annually on chronic diseases medical costs. By 2015 nursing homes and home health care costs will double to $320 million. There are five conditions accounted for one half of the increases of health care spending. They include: heart disease, pulmonary disease, mental disease, cancer, and hypertension. Alzheimer’s and Diabetes will soon past these as the most common chronic diseases. Health literacy is a way we could potentially reduce spending on chronic disease while improving health status. Health literacy is defined in the National Library of Medicine as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services necessary to make appropriate health decisions”. Examples of understanding basic health information would be the ability to understand instructions on prescription drug bottles...
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...20-year increase in the average life span during the second half of the 20th century. These factors, combined with elevated fertility in many countries during the 2 decades after World War II (i.e., the "Baby Boom"), will result in increased numbers of persons aged >65 years during 2010--2030. Worldwide, the average life span is expected to extend another 10 years by 2050. The growing number of older adults increases demands on the public health system and on medical and social services. Chronic diseases, which affect older adults disproportionately, contribute to disability, diminish quality of life, and increased health- and long-term--care costs. Increased life expectancy reflects, in part, the success of public health interventions, but public health programs must now respond to the challenges created by this achievement, including the growing burden of chronic illnesses, injuries, and disabilities and increasing concerns about future caregiving and health-care costs. This report presents data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the World Health Organization, and the United Nations on U.S. and global trends in aging,...
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...Patient Care Disease Management: Empowering Patients and Improving the Effectiveness of Patient Care Managed care organizations are continually searching for new ways to cut costs and people trying to manage an illness or disease are looking for ways to ease their symptoms, maintain their lifestyle, and stay out of the hospital. People with diseases are in the unique position for managed care organizations to focus cost saving programs on. Diseases can be incredibly expensive to treat and while people suffering from diseases are not a majority of patients, they are certainly the most costly (Lorig & Holman, 2003). Disease management programs can also motivate patients to change their lives by better managing their disease and get those diseases under control by giving patients the skills and expertise necessary. Disease management programs seek to change the approach to patient care with regards to difficult conditions by incorporating evidence based medicine techniques and outcomes that can contribute to the wellness of patients by using combinations of education, provider practice guidelines, consultations, appropriate drug utilization, supplementary drugs and services. Focus on these areas can keep patients illnesses from reaching emergent care levels as well as reducing the outlay associated with high–cost diseases. Disease Management History Chronic conditions make up more than 40 million Medicare eligible people, 23% having five or more chronic conditions...
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...person’s health, ethnicity, religious beliefs, density, level of education, and economic status (Cambridge Dictionaries Online, 2011). Demographics can also include a person’s age, gender, disabilities, status of employment, and location (Cambridge Dictionaries Online, 2011). These are all the types of human characteristics that are acknowledged and used by marketing, research, and the government in demographic data. Over the years the demographics have started to change dramatically. One of the more challenging demographics that have been dramatically changing is the aging population particularly in the southwest section of Charlotte County. I will be discussing many topics regarding this group, like the impact that this demographic group has on the health care market, specific challenges, what type of needs and services the aging population requires, and a few other topics will be reviewed. The Aging Population The aging population is increasingly growing in the United States each year. This is because there has been a decrease in fertility. A person’s life span has also changed; a person is expected to live approximately 20 more years than before the second half of the 20th century. This was mostly caused by the days of the “Baby Boom”. This has caused an increase of people aged 65 and older during the years of 2010-2030 (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 2003). By the year 2050 the life expectancy should increase by another 10 years. The demand for health care and health...
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...as a state where three or more chronic illness conditions prevail in a patient either centrally or dependant upon one or more central condition (Fortin et al., 2007). This clinical condition is characterised by overlapping pathophysiology, synergetic disease intensity and intersection of individual illnesses management (Boyd et al., 2010). Few examples of the composing illnesses include coronary heart diseases, dyspepsia, migraines, sleep disturbances, bowel imbalance and Sarcopenia ( Fortin et al., 2007) Prevalence of multi morbidity varies across different parts of the world depending upon variance of population sample, age group of the society, advancement of health care monitoring systems and ethnic conditions. In developing countries like most of the Asian countries, rates of life expectancy are reported to increase due to advances is environmental and working conditions of the population. With the increase in life expectancy rates, the prevalence of coexistence of these diseases also steeply increases and is directly proportional (Akker et al., 1998). Further more, the prevalence of this clinical condition is more in developing countries when compared to that of developed countries due to increased percentage of vulnerable groups like young children, diseased and unattended patients and poor economical conditions (Valderas et al., 2009). The government of UK launched a initiative in collaboration with the NHS to effectively manage care for patients with long term conditions...
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...Health Care Spending HCS440 Economics the Financing of Health Care University of Phoenix Jonathan Kilroy Talesha Magby Healthcare Spending Over the past couple of years health care spending has been going up higher and snuggles to keep health care cost low. Insurance companies have gone up more when medical expenses started arriving. When Obama have insurance call Obama care, this requires that everyone to have insurance either through his or her job, Medicare, or Obama care. With health care insurance most American still does not have insurance; however the government over the next year would require him or her to have insurance or his or her taxes would be taking. This research paper will explain the level expenditures in health care, health care spending add or cut of health care and public need for paid in health care. According to the reading, “rising costs led Medicare and insurance companies to tighten reimbursing practices, Getzen. T. E. & Allen B ((2007)). Insurance is rising because health care is so expensive then over the past couple of years. However, healthcare expenditures continue to develop quickly within the next few years. This mean with the health care rising there would...
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...Zion Rebecca Apphia English 101 Exploratory Essay Feb 28, 2014 Care Cost I know a man that died because he couldn’t afford the standard of care. Why is the cost of health care so high and expensive? It has cost many people to refuse to go for checkup or when sick refused to be seen by a doctor because they can’t afford the bills that will come later. Should the cost of care be reduce or remained where it is? Yes, it should be reduce because so many people are dying from chronic diseases. A freelance cameraman's appendix ruptured and by the time he was admitted to surgery, it was too late. A self-employed mother of two is found dead in bed from undiagnosed heart disease. A 26-year-old aspiring fashion designer collapsed in her bathroom after feeling unusually fatigued for days. What all three of these people have in common is that they experienced symptoms, but didn't seek care because they were uninsured and they worried about the hospital expense, according to their families. All three died. Research released this week in the American Journal of Public Health estimates that 45,000 deaths per year in the United States are associated with the lack of health insurance. If a person is uninsured, "it means you're at mortal risk," said one of the authors, Dr. David Hammerstein, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. The researchers examined government health surveys from more than 9,000 people aged 17 to 64, taken from 1986-1994, and then followed...
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...medications for a longer period , and chronic illnesses are examples of how the aging population and the Baby Boomer generation will contribute to changes in the health care field. “Future and current demographics play an important role in determining the supply and demand of health care workers” (HRS, p. 3). Projected demographics that will affect health care include the increased life span of the aging population, and geographic location of the population. The rise in the population percentage of the elderly over the next decade will cause a n increase in the demand for more health care workers, and medications. Concerns that the demands for health care professionals will not be met because of the financial stress placed on Medicaid, Medicare, private insurance companies, and the patients out of pocket expenses. Many physicians are in the same demographic as the aging population. These physicians may retire around the same time. The healthcare for the elderly population will increase will less physicians to care for them. Positive changes to the health care market will take place as the demographic changes. “Minorities will account for nearly half of the population demanding health care in the upcoming years but will also account for a percentage of professionals taking positions in urban areas” (HRS, p. 2). The demand for health care workers in these areas will be met as he minorities are becoming professionals in the health care...
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...Assignment 1: U.S. Health Care System Strayer University The lack of national health care reform, astronomical coverage costs and the rapid/continuous increase in the number of uninsured individuals in the United States has prompted government to develop plans to provide and accommodate for medical care to aid the low income, to include the impoverished. Several local health departments do not only have the responsibility for the core public health functions; but are increasingly called upon to provide health care services for those individuals who cannot afford it. This assignment discusses the three forces affecting the development of our healthcare system. The three areas of interest and selected to discuss are diseases, availability, and social organizations. Several other areas have been impactful on the development; however, these areas seemed more prevalent and more commonly discussed regarding healthcare plus its reform. The evolving area of information technology in the healthcare industry will be discussed. The importance and relevance of information technology is a key contributor of communication. Information technology regardless of the industry is an extensive key thing for business, but relevant to healthcare information it articulates and organizes, the accessibility. Our health system has focalized on treating short term health concerns; however, chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes, or heart disease are rapidly growing at epidemic portions...
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...Tele Medicine: A New Era of Health Care Jessica Contreras University of Phoenix Health Care Organizations and Delivery Systems HCS/531 Lori Walker February 22, 2015 Telemedicine: A New Era of Health Care As healthcare evolves and enters a new era, we are faced with consumer demands for care, reduction of costs, increase in quality services, and customer satisfaction. Innovation is on the horizon. 58% of Americans indicated that increased funding for medical and health research is essential for their future health and economic prosperity, and 63% expressed their willingness to pay a modest amount in additional taxes to fund medical research (Shi, 2012. p168). Leading to the evolution and fast growing pace of telemedicine. For the purpose of my essay, I am going to focus on telemedicine. The term or product "telemedicine" is defined as distance medicine; it employs the use of telecommunications technology for medical diagnosis and patient care when distance separates the provider and client. It eliminates the requirement for face-to-face contact between the examining physician and the patient. It enables a generalist to consult a specialist when a patient's illness and diagnosis are complete (Shi, 2012). To meet the current and future demands of health care, telemedicine has been growing over the past years becoming a paradigm of medicine. Through the evolution of this model, we have enhanced the ability to reach out to patients. Accessibility, cost containment, and efficiency...
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...Health Care Spending HCS 440 Health Care Spending Health care spending in the United States is a key contributor to the country's economy. The health care industry provides employment as well as providing services that bring healthier lifestyles, better productivity, and a longer life. Health care also brings the development of new drugs and new medical technology that also helps keep the economy employed. However, although the health care and health care spending does tend to help the economy slightly it is beginning to hinder our economy. "In all industrialized countries, with the exception of the United States, health care affordability is ensured through universal insurance based or tax- finances systems" (Squires, 2012, p. 1). Even though the United States spends more in health care than other countries it does not mean the United States has better quality of care than the other countries. Health care spending is depleting this country and the quality of care is not improving. The United States needs to change the way it spends money on health care before it is too late. Current National Health Care Expenditures In 1980 the health care expenditure was at $256 billion, in 2010 the expenditure went up more than 10 times to $2.6 trillion. The spending, however, has slowed in the last few years. The health care expenditure was growing rapidly from the late 1900s to the early 2000s but has slowed slightly. However, it is still expected that the health care...
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