Explain how health is affected by behaviors, economics, and social structure. When approaching behavior as a possible factor that affects one’s health, they must look at all aspects of their behavior, the good, the bad, and the ugly. What a person views as a good form of behavior may not be viewed the same by someone in the medical profession. Behaviors that are presumed as risk factors for one’s health consist of reckless driving, alcohol abuse, tobacco use, unbalanced nutritional diet, and a lack of exercise. When a person changes just one of these bad habits or unapproved behaviors, they expand their life expectancy by an average of five to ten years. While watching the Doctors on NBC, they showed that a person who smokes can lengthen their life by ten years and improve their health by lowering their risk of lung cancer and coronary heart disease is decreased to half that of a smoker after one year of quitting. The economic factor of a person’s health is vastly simulated based on the depression and the economic hardship of the United States as a whole. Researchers found that the economic factor of a person’s health is directly linked to their behavior. During an economic “boom”, people tend to not take care of themselves. They drink excessively, have a higher caloric intake, and don’t exercise or visit their doctor as much due to work-related commitments. People work more and spend less time treating their bodies as the temples they ought to. A well-to-do economy has proven itself to be bad on a person’s health, while a good economy has been proven to improve a person’s well-being due to simple changes that even the doctor would highly recommend such as lower caloric intake by cooking or choosing grilled and steamed foods. Avoid fatty meats such as pork and beef and choose lean protein such as fish, chicken and turkey instead. This would vastly improve one’s health if this one step were to be taken seriously. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (WHO Constitution). (About HAC, 2011). This definition has not been amended since 1948. The factor in relation to social structure affecting one’s health is related to every aspect of a person’s social standing such as class, status, roles, and groups. Affecting a person’s health is hand-in-hand with one’s behavior and their social structure. In social groups, members with favorable social environments have been linked to fewer complications during pregnancy, faster recovery from illnesses, and fewer health problems during stressful periods of life. Being a member of a social group promotes a sense of responsibility toward friends, which may cause one to take greater responsibility for oneself. Peers can relay which physical symptoms are threatening and which are not.

Describe the three stages of medical technology development. Scientific background and development of the idea for a product; Product development, approval, and distribution; and Diffusion, adoption, and utilization of the product are the three stages of medical technology development. This process may vary from one industrial subgroup to another but are similar in many ways. In order to become play a vital role as a part of the medical technology family, they all are subject to follow these steps in any particular order and amount of their choosing. Behind closed doors somewhere, research technicians are carrying out the basics of scientific research for a form of medical technology that will change the world and the way we view technology advancement as a whole. This is the first step; Scientific background and development of the idea for a product. This type of work may vary depending on the subject but greatly depends on the skilled scientists educated through an extensive array of basic science laboratories developed. This step can be funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or private sources. Those private sources previously mentioned are more interested in the second step; Product development, approval, and distribution. This phase in medical technological development takes a more in-depth look into refined sciences and refinement. Research and Development teams take the initiative to ask a series of questions: “Is there an obvious need and a viable market for this product?; Can an appropriate product (i.e. drug, device, piece of equipment) be developed that accomplishes what the basic science suggests it can?; and lastly, Can the necessary tests and clinical trials be carried out that will win the important regulatory approvals required for public sale and use of the product?” (Williams, 2008, p. 27). These questions are asked to aid private companies in weaving out those products or pharmaceuticals that is a real need in a viable market, can be transformed into a useful product, and/or success in obtained with the types of formal approvals needed in order to advance the development process. The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the most important regulatory approval agency for health care technology. Their role in the approval process makes the decision as to whether a form of technology or pharmaceutical can be distributed to the general public. The last stage of Diffusion, adoption, and utilization of the product, is provided by private companies and their capital in its entirety due to the extent of this process this is when the marketing phase takes root. The marketing “rep” makes a one-on-one attempt to take the drug, device, or technology and prove its benefits, therefore proving its acceptability and availability to patients and clinicians. For newly innovative medical technology, company representative may provide training and education on the use of the device or intervention itself in order to secure a sale. Many different companies have started to target insurance companies with their marketing efforts to become a part of their benefit package. This inclusion would insure their use through coverage guidelines for customers.

Describe the major trends in population demographics over the past 80 years. There are four trends in the population demographics: longevity, fertility, abortion, and mortality. These trends caused both increases and decreases in the population over the past 80 years. The increase in the population of the United States is a result of two principle factors. “The first of these is the rate of natural increase attributable to the higher number of births as compared to deaths annually in the United States, leading to additions to the total population count. The second factor is the increase in population attributable to net in-migration, which historically has accounted for nearly all the accumulated population of the country.” (Williams, 2008, p. 45). The current trend of longevity in the U.S. is considered a burden to the younger generations and a blessing to those who are aging wonderfully. It is the underlying concern for the Social Security system and the Medicare program. When it comes to these programs, those who are or above the age of 62 are able to apply for these benefits. These aging seniors are more healthy and functional than those in the turn of the century. This may be attributed to the medical and biomedical communities. Due to their research, the biomedical community is working towards either altering or completely preventing diseases that cause Alzheimer’s and dementia. Although these advances seem great to those who are affected by this and many other diseases, place a burden on the younger generation. This trend will be the topic of many conversations and political debates to come. Fertility is a trend that aids in the increase of the population. In the U.S. age-specific fertility rates are increasingly becoming more popular. In the past, women over the age of 45 were not a part of the fertility spectrum until now. Due to the vastly increasing technological world we are a part of, women over the age of 45 are able to give birth to healthy children as a result of external interventions such as in vitro fertilization, ovum freezing, and storage, and enhanced infertility treatments. This form of technology has made a huge impact and is liable to move even further with their research. When one looks at reproduction, they compute the number of live births, but there is another side to this story, abortion. The abortions trends in the United States have been defined as either spontaneous or induced. This trend is significantly weaker than those for live births due to significant changes in this countries structure since the legalization of abortions in October of 1973. There are data available for therapeutically induced abortions and the amount of spontaneous abortions remain an unknown figure. These practices have varied from society to society and over time, the data available vary depending on the source and availability of this information. The act of abortion makes direct impact on patterns of fertility, the percentage of high-risk births, reproductive health.

Describe the most important trends in morality over the past century. Mortality is to be expected, “Where there is life, there resides death” (Unknown). The trends in mortality reflect a multitude of trends in a society such as life expectancy and infant and maternal mortality. These trends are based solely on the various causes: cancer, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), vehicular-related accidents, firearms, violence, and suicide. Such causes of mortality are attributed to the calculation of life expectancy. Such a cause as HIV had significantly decreased the life expectancy of those affected with the disease in the beginning stages of discovery. But through vastly improving medical technology, members of this sector are living longer than previously expected, reducing the mortality rate little-by-little.

References:
Does an Economic Downturn Affect Your Health? (2008, October 8). Retrieved July 12, 2011, from Impact Lab: http://www.impactlab.net/2008/10/08/does-an-economic-downturn-affect-your-health/
About HAC. (2011). Retrieved July 12, 2011, from World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/hac/about/definitions/en/
Cleghorn, D. (2008, October 11). The Influence of Social Structure in the United States. Retrieved July 12, 2011, from Associated Content From Yahoo: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1069596/the_influence_of_social_structure_in_pg2.html?cat=72
Parker-Pope, T. (2008, October 28). How the economy affects your health. Retrieved July 12, 2011, from Herald-Tribune: http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20081028/ARTICLE/810280304?Title=How-the-economy-affects-your-health
Physicians, A. A. (2010, January 1). Healthy Living: How Common Behaviors Affect Your Health. Retrieved July 12, 2011, from Family Doctors.org: http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/prevention/786.html
Stephen Bezruchka, M. M. (2009, September 1). The effect of economic recession on population health. Retrieved July 12, 2011, from PubMed Central: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2734206/
Williams, S. J. (2008). Introduction to Health Services: 2010 Custom Edition. New York: Cengage Delmar Learning.