Question

Look at rates of conditions like hypertension, diabetes, arthritis and CVD in the >60 population in "Blue Zones, ie. Sardinia, Okinawa, Loma Linda, CA, Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica, and Ikaria, Greece. Basically, let's address the question of whether or not age has to equal poor health, chronic conditions, and disability. And if we find that maybe the answer is "no" where should the U.S. start spending money to create a healthy aging population in the future? You might even hone this down to why it is in an employer's or insurer's best interest to keep people healthy by offering a number of health promotion/disease prevention strategies. This question arises from statements on p. 233 about the escalating costs of healthcare being heavily influenced by the large elderly population. Basically, let's discuss how to prevent this from being true 50 years from now.

Answer 1

Aging, the normal process of time related change begin with & continues throughout life. The older segment of the American population is growing more rapidly than the rest of the population. The US census bureau projects that by thy year 2020, there will be more people older than 65 years of age (22%) than people younger than 18 years of age (21%)

As the older population increases the number of people who live to be very old will also increase.

Health professionals will be challenged to design strategies that address the higher prevalence of illness within the again population.

Many chronic condition commonly found among older people can be managed, limited & prevented. So we can never accept the fact that age has to equal poor health, chronic conditions & disability.

Older people are more likely to maintain good health & functional independence if appropriate community based support services are available. US should start spending money to create healthy aging population. Investing on ;

Free health check up

Availability of health food items

Pollution free environment etc

Other methods can be followed are;

Raising the retirement age

Offering pensions to private employees

Increase income tax pay for pension cost etc

Insurer's & employers are offering their best interest to keep people healthy by a number of health promotion / disease prevention strategies.

Employers offers health insurance & vaccination to make their employers more healthy. The main motto behind the scenes is to improve the quality of their performance, which will benefit the company. Other than that, if the employer is stay fit beyond their retirement age, the company can continue to get his service without losing a more experienced person.

Insurance companies also play a vital role to keep the customers healthy by offroffe various health care schemes & check ups. Early detection of most of the disease can be done by this facility.

Cost of health care will increase dramatically by the large older population. Which creates an heavy burden on the government by finding the funding for the treatment, pension for the aged people. Usually for managing the scenario they will increase the tax. So people find difficulty to manage the increasing cost of the items.

This situation can be only managed by keeping the elderly healthy by changing the lifestyle among the coming generations.

*Changing food patterns ( avoiding fast foods, heavy meals, drinking alcohol, carbonate beverage etc

*Encourage to quit smoking

*Educate about the importance of exercises ( ealkwal, jogging, cycling )

*Minimal pollutions ( Air, water, soil )

*Encourage social interaction ( release stress )

*Increasing the retirement age can benefit both the party ( government & elderly ). GiverGover can save the amount to be paid as pension & the employee can be happily work with the organisation thereby he can avoid boredom & manage his life.