Posts Tagged ‘#health care’
The Reason . . .
. . . so many people
have a clean conscience
is because
it’s never been used.
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Health-Care Costs Top Concern
More than one-third of the people in this country are worried about the rising cost of their health-care services and insurance coverage. This level of concern indicates that more than twice as many people are worried about health-care costs than not being able to pay their rent or mortgage.
The public also is worried about a wide range of health matters, according to a nationwide poll. About one-third said they were very worried that their health plan will be more concerned about saving money for the plan than about what is best for them.
Almost 30 percent said they are very worried that the quality of health care they receive will get worse. About the same percentage said they were concerned about affording prescription drugs. And about a quarter said they worry about the availability of health services they think they might need.
The top issues facing government, according to more than a quarter of those polled, expanding health coverage for the more than 40 million people without insurance and providing prescription-drug coverage for seniors. These two items rank higher than other health-care problems such as malpractice reform and assuring the fiscal health of the Medicare program.
If You Don’t Like . . .
. . .tucking your hearing aids into your ears,
put them in your pocket and take them down to
the 2nd floor multi-purpose room
at 3 p.m. to get them
checked and cleaned.
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It’s a good thing I became a wordsmith because
I can’t even count the times I failed math at school.
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Too Sick to Seek Care
Imagine being too sick to get help from becoming sicker. That’s what appears to happening to a lot of the elderly. Poor physical health and disabilities could be keeping older patients from seeking preventive care, such as mammograms and flu shots, according to a report by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for the Advancement of Health.
It also seems that physical-health problems affect the elderly’s health behavior more than mental-health problems like depression. The one exception, according to results of a survey of more than 4,500 individuals aged 65 to 103, is that older patients who reported being depressed were more likely to smoke.
Most people are less likely to smoke or drink alcohol frequently as they age but are also less likely to have mammograms, lose weight, and exercise as they grow older. Minority and low-income patients, as well as those with physical-health limitation, are less likely to use preventive medical services.
On the other hand, elderly respondents taking multiple prescription medications or who had recent falls were more likely to use preventive care and to practice good-health behaviors. This suggests that regular contact with health-care providers encourages better good-health practices. Additional visits also give health-care providers more opportunities to suggest vaccinations, go over opportunities for advance directives, and discuss needs for behavioral changes.
Mature Life Features 