Free Health Goals For Older Adults For The Year 2020 Essay Sample

Older adults are among the many types of people whose health is largely negatively affected by the ever-changing factors in the environment. For such reason, health of older adults is often seen as compromised and the need to improve public services and healthcare offered to them is being highly considered nowadays. In an aim to address the increasing need of older adults for an improved and more highlighted focus on their healthcare, the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion has established improved goals for health that must be observed in the year 2020.
The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has established different goals for different groups of people in the society (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2015). Such goals were mainly focused on the improvement of health condition and healthcare provision in accordance to the needs of various groups of people in the society, which includes older people (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2015). For older adults, the 2020 goal is to improve their health, function, as well as their quality of life (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2015). Older adults are found to be exposed to greater risk of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus, arthritis, congestive heart failure and dementia—diseases that are estimated to affect more than 37 million or 60% of older adults in 2030, making such diseases as the leading cause of death among this particular group of people (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2015). In addition to chronic diseases, older adults are particularly susceptible to factors that interfere with their ability to live independently and the current low quality of healthcare delivery that they receive makes their health condition even poorer (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2015). Disabilities and increased chances of getting injured are also part of the concerns assessed in the 2020 health goals for older adults (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2015).
Providing effective and improved healthcare for older adults by employing experts in geriatric care and improving injury-prevention programs is one of the priorities laid by the 2020 health goals for older adults (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2015). Improving older adults’ quality of life by addressing chronic diseases and establishing effective intervention to control such is another goal included in the 2020 health goals for older adults (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2015). The 2020 health goal for adults also aimed to understand better the health needs of older adults by addressing factors such as (1) individual behavioral determinants of health, (2) social environment determinants of health, and (3) health services-related determinants of health (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2015). Generally, the 2020 health goals for older adults particularly revolve around improving their health, function, and quality of life by implementing laws that will improve the quality of healthcare that they receive (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2015).

References

Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2015). Older Adults. Healthy People 2020. Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/older-adults