e-activity One
The United States is the wealthiest nation in the world, therefore measuring factors to include health is important. Measuring healthcare is important to establish the health value Americans get from their spending on healthcare. To successfully explore these measures, it is important to consider vulnerable groups in the population and other subgroups (Center for Disease Control, 2010). Various ways used to measure population health include measuring the mortality and life expectancy, this is the easiest and oldest method used to measure the health of a population. This method is used to measure the health of the population in the events of an outbreak that causes the death of many. The second method is the fertility and fatality rates, this method is based on; a healthy population will record high fertility rates with more healthy infants being born. Health risk factors to include the prevalence of obesity are used to measure health (Center for Disease Control, 2010). These different methods of measuring individual and general population health have a huge impact on the decisions individuals make concerning their health care needs, these measures also encourage individuals to change their lifestyles.
e-activity two
When compared to other industrialized countries the United States government spends a relatively high amount on the health of its citizens. However, the country’s spending on healthcare does not mean that the health of the country’s citizens is better than the health of citizens of other industrialized nations. The US spends an estimated $8000 per person in a year in healthcare. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the US has about 3 physicians per 1000 individuals. The average life expectancy in the US is 78 years while in other developed countries life expectancy is 79 years (World Health Organization, 2002). Most of the health insurance in the US are private, therefore, individuals have to spend their finances on medical insurance. The individual spending on insurance in the US is relatively high when compared to Individual spending in other industrialized countries (World Health Organization, 2002). The United States has a complex health plan than other industrialized nation, in the US the same treatment can be charged at different prices for different consumers based on their different health plans.
References
Center for Disease Control. (2010). Summary measures of Population Health. Retrieved from; https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/pophealth.pdf
World Health Organization (2002). World Health Organization Assesses the World's Health Systems. Retrieved from; https://www.who.int/whr/2000/media_centre/press_release/en/
