U.S. Aging Population Increase: A Look at Statistics and Implications - Essay Sample

Introduction

Medical developments, advancements, and durability of healthcare, reduced fertility rates, and the aging of baby boomers have led to an increase in the percentage of United States Aging Population (AP). Hence, there has been an increase in the size of elderly individuals. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2019), the United States reported a rough figure of 53 million adults above 65 years old in 2019. Most of the aging people hate being in nursing homes and believe that home is a better place. Several aging organizations in the states and local areas offer the necessary components to support the vast number of aging U.S. citizens. In most cases, these organizations provide services that allow the aged individuals to stay at their homes and communities in the best, reliable, and affordable way. This paper focuses on health and aging policy that will be covered in the discussion part.

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Relationship of the Policy to State, Federal, And Other Global Health Policies or Goals

During the designing of policy, it is always necessary to distinguish a condition from a problem. Aging is not certainly an issue but rather can be termed as a condition. Changes in lifestyle occur with changes in certain circumstances. Policy design is one of the causes of lifestyle changes. Other factors that significantly impact an individual's lifestyle include poor health, dependence, and poverty. Policy design covers a broader field and not just aspirations. Actions are the main determinants of the success of policy design. Statements only become meaningful when action plans are fulfilled. Good policy design will ensure the building of a better world through the amendment of existing errors. Various steps exist in policy development. These include the maintenance of clarity about the philosophy of shaping the policy, developing an action framework, methods to accomplish the policy objectives, and the end outcome. According to Burwell et al. (2016), these strategies support assists with the facilitation of care access to patients among a certain population. The criteria for identifying the concern areas provide quality policies of care hence improves healthcare fulfillment.

Well laid strategies for policy management will enable access to the needed healthcare facilities and services by the AP. It is crucial to encourage the use of a health workforce to address all current and emerging issues to ensure the AP's protection and wellness, which is considered a vulnerable piece of the United States population. The policy needs to address the disparities of health and boost the elderly's health through community partnership. Optimization of activities that will enhance efficiency, accountability, and innovation is also a vital step. Healthcare policy plays a significant role in setting out a general guide plan to ensure good results. Another aim of the healthcare policy and strategies is to communicate the desired results of the organization to the staff members. Health policy associates with decisions, goals, and actions performed within the community to obtain the objectives of healthcare.

Health policy should be explicit to enable the achievement of various tasks. The explicitly of a health policy allows for the future description, something that is crucial for the setting of short- and medium-term goals. The prevention of main current health issues demands for a proper understanding and intervention strategies to address the primary causes. The process of developing health policies, plans, and strategies of the nation is usually dynamic and complex. In a historical, socio-economical, and political context, health policy's accurate nature occurs differently from country to country. A good health policy consists of components such as engagement of shareholders, analysis of the current situation and setting of priority, calculation of the cost of plans, assessment, monitoring, and combining all vision to operational plans (Burwell et al., 2016).

Supportive objectives in the promotion of health and aging strategies need to align with Healthy People 2020. The strategies ensure proper initiatives to develop a community-oriented towards prevention. These strategies cause no harm to community settings, medical facilities, engaged population, and health disparity elimination. Contextually, the set priorities ensure that we have a suggestion with all the required pieces of evidence. In this case, the priorities help decrease associated risks, thus preventing death and main disease cases (National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (N4A), 2018).

As per the policy, the main objective should be to improve people's life duration through guaranteed good and productive health. The demographics of the United States keep growing as the number of Americans reaching 65 years grow. It can even get to the point of existing for more than 19 years. Thus, all needed sectors should be engaged to prepare the opportunities that will increase AP. Healthcare professionals are crucial in ensuring the proper circulation of healthcare funds and overcoming patient care challenges. The anticipation for healthcare professionals' need helps to provide an easier path for minimizing the difficulties in healthcare; thus, nurses will be better positioned to promote leadership in this field. Easy access to care is key to global health provision to individuals (Burwell et al., 2016).

Advocacy Strategies to Employ on Behalf of the Population to Ensure Access to Policy Benefits

Population aging is a main demographic change that impacts the United States society. Being a demographic thing, it poses several effects to the social, economic, and nation's institutions of health. Older persons alongside their families are hugely impacted. Due to the medical field's development, individuals have managed a longer life duration, making them at the age that they are highly susceptible to other health conditions such as hypertension, arthritis, cancer, stroke, and mental disorders. The prevalence of most chronic diseases increases with an increase in the life duration of people. Older individuals have reduced physical activities, thus increasing the risks of metabolic disorders. A perfect example is high blood pressure. Health Resources & Service Administration (2019) reports a higher number of hospitalized older people than their younger counterparts.

One of the strategies to address this situation is expanding healthcare facilities and preventive services to increase accessibility. It is also important to ensure that people receive quality healthcare services from care providers. The availability of better technical support will ensure easy service flow, thus making it affordable, integrated, comprehensive, and family-oriented. The patients' resulting outcome should be comprehensive, and this will only be attained by the presence of proper planning, coordination, and management of services by the providers. Underserved areas, such as rural areas, need more attention, and will be served better with good initiatives (Health Resources & Service Administration, 2019).

Christian Perspective

We can say that Jesus is a master in physics since he had deep concerns about the human physical state as well as a spiritual condition. He never taught about socially embracing pain but instead encouraged us to battle spiritually and physically with it. During his time, he interacted and physically engaged himself with people, including those which physical illnesses. No one should brag of being a follower of Jesus while neglecting those who require help. The aging people need us; therefore, we must step up and do the necessary as Christians. To phrase a verse from the bible, Matthew 25:36 says that "I needed clothes, and you clothed me, I was sick, and you looked after me, I was in prison, and you visited me." Devoted Christians need to serve whenever there is a call. The sick and needy people need us; thus, we are under no obligation but to offer our service.

Conclusion

The technological advancements in medicine have generated a transformation of medical practice from care to complete recovery. It has promoted a healthy aging process through the undertaking of campaigns directed at the elderly population. Services from media, government announcements, promotions, and participation in health activities have promoted healthcare. Volunteer activities have also been pivotal in healthcare improvement and have enabled for reduced incurred costs. Since most of the aged people in the United States opt for receiving health care at their homes, it was the right decision to select this policy. The policy's main focus on addressing the key issues that affect older adults' health was a key pointer. One of the key activities is educating the AP on preventive measures and making the right choices. Health Resources & Service Administration (2019) affirms that making the right choice on health policy minimizes health risks and guarantees a better tomorrow for the older people.

References

Burwell, S., Vilsack, T., King, J., Ramirez, C., Perez, T., Johnson, J., McCarthy, Roberts, S., Carter, A., McDonald, R., Castro, J., Donovan, S., Jewell, S., & Roth. (2016). Healthy Aging in Action Advancing the National Prevention Strategy Members (Denise (ed.)). Retrieved September 04, 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/aging/pdf/healthy-aging-in-action508.pdf

Health Resources & Service Administration. (2019). 2019-2022 Strategic Plan. Retrieved September 04, 2020, from https://www.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/hrsa/about/strategic-plan/hrsa-strategic-plan.pdf

National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (N4A). (2018). National Association of Area Agencies on Aging 2018 Policy Priorities Promote the Health, Security and Well-Being of Older Adults. Retrieved September 04, 2020, from https://www.n4a.org/files/n4a_2018PolicyPriorities_web.pdf

National Institute for Health Research. (2020). Patient Safety 2030 NIHR Patient Safety Translational Research Centre at Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Retrieved September 04, 2020, from https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/institute-of-global-health-innovation/centre-for-health-policy/Patient-Safety-2030-Report-VFinal.pdf

U.S. Census Bureau. (2019, October 7). Older Population and Aging. The United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 04, 2020, from https://www.census.gov/topics/population/older-aging.html