Health Care Conditions Essay Example for Free

Health Care Conditions Essay As we analyze the factors contributing to health care costs we must find a solution that provides high-quality care for an aging population. Improvements to modern medicine are prolonging life causing a schism between a health care system oriented towards acute care and the increasing chronic care needs of older adults. Studies do show that health care costs for older Americans account for one third of all national health care expenditures. This being said the average expenditure for health care services for adults 65 and over is nearly four times the cost of those under 65. More significant changes need to be considered given the financial crisis our health care system faces. Health care costs are not solely due to longevity; consider increased utilization, new medical technologies, general inflation, fraud, and waste and abuse. This paper will discuss one article to be used in my final presentation on health care for anaging population. Data collection procedures The study on chronic health conditions used a questionnaire presented to study participants by in-person and telephone interview using computer-assisted software. They also used the Statistics Canada Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) for age prevalence patterns and to show how chronic condition prevalence varies by age group. The use of the CCHS survey for historical data and comparisons is very appropriate for this study. The use of a questionnaire, while not ideal, is appropriate for the large number of participants. The survey sampled approximately 130,000 people aged 12 years or older. In-person interviews are the most reliable, but the downside to using telephone interviews using computer-assisted software is that participants may go through the questionnaire quickly or skip questions if they are unsure. Identity protection for research subjects Confidentiality is the protection of information that an individual has trusted you with and disclosed to you for a particular reason. Informed consent is a process in which the researcher explains to the participant what steps are taken to keep their information confidential and what would happen if there were a data breach. The participant then has the information needed to determine if this is adequate and whether or not to continue with the project. The article does not discuss the steps taken to  protect the identity of participants. There is no mention of patient record abstraction, personal information collected or informed consent. Reading the article, it is an assumption that the only information collected was the age and number and type of chronic conditions for each participant. Study reliability and validity The reliability of this study, that is, the consistency and repeatability of the measure is high. A question related to the number and type of chronic conditions experienced by each participant is reliable and is measuring one topic. The questionnaire meets face validity – it is a common-sense assessment and the question measures exactly what they want to study. Data analysis procedures To answer the research questions, the researchers used data from the CCHS survey to develop a baseline of the number of chronic conditions within certain age groups. That data was then projected for 25 years based on the target population which was derived from a model of the economic demographic system (MEDS) projection. The hypothesis, â€Å"The expectation is that, as the large baby boom cohort moves into older age categories, the overall proportion of the population with chronic conditions will increase† (Denton Spencer, 2010), is best answered by projecting the number of people in each age group based on historical data and factoring in immigration, emigration, mortality, and fertility rates. I believe this study is quantitative. It involves randomly selected participants, uses face-to-face and phone questionnaires, the data analysis is statistical and is presented in tables and graphs, and is used to recommend a final course of action. The study design is descriptive, also called observational. Validity is important in descriptive studies; the lower the validity, the more study participants you will need. â€Å"For an accurate estimate of the relationship between variables, a descriptive study usually needs a sample of hundreds or even thousands of subjects.† (Hopkins, 2000) Conclusion In conclusion, the study shows that more than two-thirds of the population over the age of 12 has a chronic condition and 90% of them are over the age of 65. The researchers believe that as the participants move into higher  age groups the prevalence of chronic conditions will increase, which this study proves. The prevalence rate in 2005 is 68.7% and the prevalence rate in 2030 is 71.9% which is an increase of 3.2%. But how does this affect health care utilization and cost? With a modest reduction in the prevalence of chronic conditions, one-third of the projected increase in health care spending could be cut by 2030. In this study, a modest reduction is described as reducing the number of chronic conditions by one. Those with three chronic conditions would be reduced to two, two would be reduced to one, and one would be reduced to none. The strengths of this study are the high reliability and validity of the data recorded from the questionnaires. The data analysis and projections based on the target population, adjusted for emigration, immigration, mortality, and fertility was the best option for this type of study. The weaknesses of the study were the inability to abstract data on chronic conditions from the medical records of the participants, and the exclusion of participants in institutions which resulted in an under-estimation of chronic conditions in older populations. Another weakness noted by the researchers was that there was no record of the severity of the condition. This does not allow for accurate accounts of those cured of the chronic condition during the study period. References Denton, F.T., Spencer, B.G. (2010). Chronic health conditions: Changing prevalence in an aging population and some implications for the delivery of health care services. Canadian Journal on Aging, 29(1), 11-21. Doi:http://dx/doi.org/10.1017/SO714980809990390 Hopkins, W.G. (2000). Quantitative Research Design. SportsScience, 4(1), retrieved online May 26, 2014 from http://www.sportsci.org/jour/0001/wghdesign.html

The Sociology Analysis of Food and Food Ways Essay -- Sociology, Comme

Sociology is the study of society and people. Food and food ways are often elements associated with particular societies and therefore, studying such a topic can offer valuable insight into the ways of that society and the people who live in it. Although eating is a vital part of survival, with whom, how and where we eat are not. Studying such ways can illustrate and represent the identity of a person or group. The nature of people and their beliefs can be indicated when analysing their food habits. Who individuals eat with is a particularly revealing factor into gaining an understanding of their identity, culture and society (Scholliers P 2001). For this reason commensality is a term frequently used in sociological research concerning food and food ways. Commensality can be defined as the notion of eating with others. It is the act of two or more people consuming a meal together (Pearsall J 1999). The purpose of commensality is much more than that of allowing survival. It pushes beyond this and becomes a practice of socialisation. Anthropologist Martin Sahlins suggested that not only does it provide opportunities for people to integrate socially, but that it can be the starting factor and maintaining factor in which enables relationships to form and develop. For example, he found that at the beginning of relationship formation commensality tends to involve the sharing of drinks and snacks. As relationships develop the meals become more complex. He claimed that the traditional cooked dinner of meats and vegetables is one mainly shared among families and rarely with friends (Lupton 1996). This suggests that commensality is often used as an expression of closeness and the extent of such closeness can be discovered by looking at ... ...ldhood in Food, the Body and the Self by SAGE publications in London, England Mail Online NEWS (2010) Eating dinner at the table is 'dying out', says survey [online] available assessed 13/02/2012 Pearsall J (1999) The Concise Oxford Dictionary Tenth Edition page 286 by Oxford University Press in Oxford New York, America Scholliers P (2001) Meals, Food Narratives and Sentiments of Belonging in Past and Present and Chapter Two Commensality and Social Morphology: An Essay of Typology Claude Grignon in Food, Drink and Identity Cooking, Eating and Drinking in Europe since the middle Ages by Berg in New York, America Tapper T and Palfreyman D (2010) The Collegial Tradition in Higher Education in The Collegial Tradition in the Age of Mass Higher Education by Springer in United Kingdom

Liberal democracy Essay

As a citizen of a democratic country, we depend too much in our newspapers, magazines, tabloids and all kinds of media for information, mainly because almost everything is shown in it, we don’t even know whether it is true or not, but because this is our flow of society we believe in it. But isn’t it invading our privacy? And our right to live in security? This is journalism the science of ruining or building lives. But primarily its purpose is to expose certain events, critical issues and mainly the lives of people, their private lives that they don’t want other people to know, the exaggerated tales and the gradual destruction of ones life. It is like showing your cards in a poker game without you knowing it, people taking advantage of it and using it against you. Look at the Valerie Plame scandal. After her career has been ruined by exposing her identity as a CIA agent, saying that she have leaked some information as an intelligence officer and making herself a public icon by showing herself in the front page of vanity fair other magazines and newspapers, professional journalists just took off the scene after the case have been dismissed instead of clearing their mistakes. Another example is the paparazzi, they make celebrity lives really difficult and even drive some of them to their deaths because of the stories that they fabricate, the pictures that they took, the private stories and pictures that shouldn’t be known by the public which creates an even more stress and pressure on them. Just like what happen to Princess Diana, who died because of a car accident in Paris, France due to the never ending chase of the paparazzi. In the war between US and Iraq, the progress of the US was certain, the US was reluctant to stop the attacks though the Iraq parliament appealed for a month long cease of attack, what do the media do?! They ignored all the press releases of Iraq and launched a â€Å"shock and Awe† campaign to expose and insult the Iraq parliament, making the situation worse. As what Lt. Col. Oliver North said that the media won’t make them (military troops) safe in the war that has been going on in Iraq, and he also said that it has become a weapon which attacks Iraq that supports the media’s claim that our democracy has attained its limits. Freedom in every little way has also its limitations, though we have equal rights and some believe that it’s the journalist right to do his job, I do also believe that freedom, our liberal rights meets its limits when we are actually hurting somebody because of our so called freedom of expression. Journalism, for the sake of its name creates not only destruction of lives but also of believes and relationship. Little by little, journalism is slowly ignoring our freedom of privacy, it cares for nothing except a good story, an interesting story that may destroy a life, it cares for no one, it exposes everything without even thinking the results of such act and mainly some of stories are exaggerated to give it a more interesting twist. Privacy is an experience that people should have the luxury of using, it is not a piece of data that we can tell everybody whenever we want to, we live in a democratic country, with democratic rights and equal opportunity, we must let everybody have their own piece of security as we do, who would want to live in a world where everything is exposed and there is nothing that you can keep to your self? I wouldn’t and I think no one would want that because if so, why would the government create liberal policy? Why do we want to have security? Journalism is really powerful, it can manipulate us in every way that it wants, it can even made us believe the things that they say; which may and may not be absolutely true, it also create a world of doubts, where we no longer know whether this piece of information is reliable or not, is it true or is it just a fraud? The word fair is not in its vocabulary and even respect. Exposing everything that creates interest to them and to the people, every thing will be exposed with or without consent, launching stories that shouldn’t be known by the public that may cause trouble not only to them but also to the innocent people around. Like when they publicize the American Iraqi war, when they follow people around etc. Isn’t this a clear violation of liberal rights? We must be skeptic of everything that we are told, because we are critical beings, we have our brain enlarged and neurons to use in such cases, we have our own set of opinion, let us become non-conformist and stop the inevitable exploitation of journalism in destroying our liberal rights. What’s the use of liberal democracy if we would allow this journalism to uncover every little piece of information about us? Journalism is like a disease seeping in every hole in our liberal rights, it is a cancer, a malignant one that we can’t seem to fight easily, but it is possible, I’m not saying that journalism only has disadvantages, we know that everything has two sides yet as we weigh their cons and pros we should know that it is slowly killing our democratic rights as a person and as citizen of this country. Let us prove that we value our freedom more than the interesting stories that this journalist made, let us have a world where there is security and freedom to have a private life that every one of us should deserve. Cure the disease that slowly deteriorates the country and make it a place where there will be no lives that are ruined due to exaggerated stories and expose that the media and journalists made. This is a free country, yet freedom in order to remain real should be handed down not only to those who can afford it but to everybody in this nation and in every nation around the world. Journalism should limit their scope and make our lives easier. Stop the exploitation and the lies, journalism must be honest and it should respect our liberal rights so as to avoid misunderstanding and destruction. Works cited: Connors, Michael. Howard’s Australia: The Democratic Paradox. 19 April 2006. August 21 2007. < http://www. newmatilda. com/home/articledetail. asp? ArticleID=1510> Leiby, Richard. Valerie Plame, the Spy Who Got Shoved Out Into the Cold . Saturday, October 29, 2005; Page C01. Aug. 20 2007: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/28/AR2005102801172.html

Essay on Honky Book Report - 3136 Words

Minority Autobiography Analysis (Book Report) Title: Honky Author: Dalton Conley Summary Honky is the true story of Dalton Conley, a white kid, growing up in a minority community. The story takes place beginning at the end of the 1960s and concluding in the early 1980s and takes us from the authors early childhood to college. Dalton Conley was white, with a Jewish mother and an Irish/English father. Both of Daltons patents were artists. His mother, Ellen, grew up in northern Pennsylvania, the daughter of a dentist, and was a graduate of Penn State University. She was active in the civil rights movement in the early sixties and later spent time in Haiti as a volunteer. She is probably best described as somewhat of a†¦show more content†¦Dalton and Jerome drift apart and Dalton becomes good friends with another classmate named Raphael. He is Latino, lives near the school and his parents have money. Dalton and Raphael accidentally set fire to Raphaels apartment playing a game with matches. Both kids were found to blame for the incident and neither was punished severely. Dalton knows this would have been different if he had been black and the fire had been in one of the tenements near his home. When Jerome had been shot, Daltons mother had placed their name on a waiting list for low-income housing in Roosevelt Long Island and just before Dalton enters high school, the family moves. Dalton is puzzled as to why they were given the housing instead of one of his neighbors and finds his parents being artists played a big role. Dalton had been accepted into a quality, public school known for its academics where he makes friends with the kids of working class families who commuted great distances, as he once did, to school. After high school, he leaves his family, moves to San Francisco, and attends Berkley. After college, he returns to New York, lives in Manhattan just a few miles from where he grew up, and is a professor at Yale. Theoretical Application Daltons experiences growing up reflect many of the theories we covered during class. Early on he has little concept of what race is and considers himself part of the neighborhood in which he is growing up. Everyone around him is eitherShow MoreRelatedGeorge Schuyler, Black No More1591 Words   |  7 Pagesbe the first African-American science fiction writer. Nisi Shaw’s list of African American science fiction writers in her article â€Å"A Crash Course in the History of Black Science Fiction† proves that there other black writers in that genre who had books published before Schuyler. Martin Delaney s Blake, or Huts of America, published in 1859 concerns a â€Å"slave revolt† and the possibilities of a new, perfect society (â€Å"utopia†).Speculating about a future â€Å"utopia† is one of the hallmarks of science fictionRead MoreSummary Of The Iconoclast s Black No More 1718 Words   |  7 Pagesuse hair straightening supplies again (Black No More, 14). It is probable that the name of Schuyler’s book is based on the name of that product. Included in the preface as well are the statements of a Japanese doctor (Dr. Yusaburo) and an American engineer (Mr. Bela Gati), who each said that had invented a process to change a Negro into a white man (Black No More, v). In fact, Schuyler reports Dr. Yusaburo as saying he could transform the Japanese race into â€Å"tall blue-eyed blonds† (Black No MoreRead MoreI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou6502 Words   |  27 Pagesaugmenting her feelings of rejection and guilt. Even though Maya further isolates herself in the library, the books do more good than harm. On the one hand, Maya’s favorite stories and fairy-tales teach her the culturally accepted notion that women cannot be heroes, causing her to wish that she could be male. Nevertheless, Maya ceases to want or need Mr. Freeman’s attention because books provide her with companionship. When Mr. Freeman rapes her, he uses the need for affection she previously expressed