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With the ongoing economic crisis, systems of health care are facing the challenge of sustainability. Unemployment is rising and the people who have lost their jobs are no longer able to provide their own and their family’s health care. On the other hand, the state, which has accumulated a lot of debt over the last decades cannot allocate the financial means to provide health care to the people who need it. Overall, if the financial situation does not improve dramatically, health care systems will be hit by serious crisis which threatens to destroy them. The only viable solution in the long run is to try to establish the practices which would ensure maximum prevention of major illnesses which would then reduce the costs of health care. It is clear how the costs of preventive activities are covered by the money which is saved because the illness does not need to be treated.
First in the line of activities aimed at preventing the occurrence of diseases is health education. Many studies have shown that people who are more educated about health issues are also more likely to maintain regular preventive examinations and take measures such as changes in lifestyle to avoid illnesses (Tracy et al., 2002).
Second measure is focusing the health care on children. This can be the most effective of all the measures. It is known that children are more likely to recover from any disease if it is discovered in time and the amount of money spent in treating children has a lot more chance of being paid off. In addition, the children can benefit most from promotion of healthy lifestyle, because it is easiest to develop healthy habits during the childhood years (Slilagyi, 1998).
Thirdly, it is crucial to promote healthy workplace because it can have significant impact on the expenditure of health care. In today’s world many illnesses are caused by stress related to work, particularly overtime work, malnutrition, lack of sleep, stressful situations etc. Eliminating or reducing such effects of work on the people’s physical condition would certainly be beneficial to future managed health care (Chu, 2000)
Forth strategy in this domain could be food pricing. For over a decade, there has been a debate over to what extent pricing of food can influence food choices and whether overpricing of unhealthy types of food would have beneficial effects. It has been proven that lower prices on healthy food increase their consumption (French, 1997).
The final measure is solving the problem of high invalidity rate and frequent health problems in the elderly populations. Periodical examinations of the elderly people which would focus on preventing the most frequent diseases and those particular diseases for which the older person has risk factors could dramatically reduce the percentage of old people who are not functionally autonomous and are dependent on medical care (Fried & Bush, 1988).
Annotated Bibliography
Chu, C. (2000). Health-promoting workplaces—international settings development. Health Promotion International, 15, 155-167.
In the article the author discusses the current trends in the promotion of healthy workplaces. They examine the present problems and also potential issues in the practice and define a framework for assessing the level of implementation of healthy workplace principles. The article is relevant because it can help us realize in what ways the employees’ health can be improved – the goal which is crucial for the future of managed health care.
French, S. (1997). A pricing strategy to promote low-fat snack choices through vending machines. American Journal of Public Health, 87, 849-851.
The article represents an empirical study on the change in consumption of healthy food in relation to changes in its price. As the results of the study show reducing the price of healthy food by 50 per cent doubles its consumption. The facts collected in this article can serve as a good basis for constructing a food pricing policy in relation to the strategies for preventing major illnesses.
Fried, L., & Bush, T. (1988). Morbidity as a focus of preventive health care in the elderly.. Epidemiological Reviews, 10, 48-64.
The authors’ main idea is that public funds are heavily spent on the medical care of the elderly populations and that it is necessary to find solutions for the problem. They propose strategies based on the incidence of diseases among older people and suggest that the funds should be aimed at preventing the most frequent ones. In addition, if a person has risk factors for developing a disease preventive measures should be undertaken. This way, costs of medical and other care for the elderly can be significantly lowered.
Szilagyi, P. (1998). Managed Care for Children: Effect on Access to Care and Utilization of Health Services. Children and Managed Health Care, 8, 39-59.
The main aim of the article is to analyze the efficiency of managed health care in providing the children with the kind of health care that they need which is centered on prevention. They examine whether Medicaid enrollment had effect on utilization and access of the health care and they find the results inconclusive. In conclusion, it is established that methodology of granting children utilization and access to health care is crucial. The proposals of the article can help in accomplishing the goal of focusing the preventive measures on children.
Tracy, S., et al. (2002). Health Literacy and Preventive Health Care Use Among Medicare Enrollees in a Managed Care Organization. Medical Care, 40, 395-202.
The findings of the study show that people with less knowledge about health issues are less likely to perform preventive examinations and other measures to reduce the risk of getting a disease. These facts are a useful start in realizing the importance of education for the prevention of major diseases and ultimately reducing the costs of treatment.
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