Currently, the population of the United States is swiftly aging which poses challenges to healthcare system. It is estimated that approximately 20% of American people will reach the age of 65 within a decade (Rowe et al., 2016). It implies that they will excessively use medical services due to chronic and severe diseases. As a result, the patient base is Therefore, social and healthcare services are facing serious problem in delivering care.
The start of the following decade will be marked by a dramatic demographic shift which presumes that people will massively get older and their number will exceed the younger generation. The population boom will significantly affect health care services delivery. There are significant differences among older people in the society now which will become more acute in future. Divorced or widowed men and women, members of racial minorities, and immigrants are most likely to be exposed to chronic diseases, poverty, and inaccessibility to adequate services as they get older (Rowe et al., 2016). Hence, as the population grows, so will the segment of aging individuals who require more support that the others.
As a consequence, there is a need to develop a policy which will guarantee health care services availability and accessibility to the older adults. Even though the policy may be not complicate to develop, it is indispensable to prove its effectiveness. Most likely its success depends on several stakeholders: the government and the medical workers. In case they collaborate to increase health status of aging generation, the policy may have an effect on the target group.
The first part of the policy framework would be recognizing senior citizen’s needs and values and measuring their economic, social, and other statuses. The next step would be developing policy itself by compiling all the data and choosing the adequate options to help the vulnerable group. This policy must be implemented at the state level since the government is the primary stakeholder which must undertake a principle responsibility to provide financial security to the aging population.
Nonetheless, there is a possibility of a long-term valuation process since the policy must be thoroughly assessed at all levels. The slow pace of change in the organization is often seen as a prior challenge to make policy work. The evaluation process will consider policy’s efficacy, relevance, and feasibility to ensure it bears practical meaning (Czaja, 2019). However, the date of this procedure may barely be stated since each stage of assessment may last for an extended period. Yet, the regular process of policy implementation takes up to six months or longer.
In case if the policy is inconsistent with some conditions and does not fulfill its intended purpose, the stakeholders should revise it. Primarily, they must alter the initial intent, add new information to understand the policy statement, modify the structure, and update the guidelines (Czaja, 2019). Healthcare policies are vital for the society; hence, they must be reviewed or revised carefully to benefit population.
In conclusion, it seems relevant to state that healthcare reforms are vitally needed for the vulnerable segments of population. The aging generation is in the risk group since they demand more medical services which become more expensive. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a policy granting these individuals financial and social security. However, the process of its implementation may take longer than expected and demand re-evaluation.
References
Czaja, S. J. (2019). The healthcare challenge for an aging population: The role of technology. Innovation in Aging, 3(1), S32. Web.
Rowe, J., Fulmer, T., & Fried, L. (2016). Preparing for better health and health care for an aging population. JAMA, 316(16), 1643–1644. Web.