Healthy People 2020: Improving Health Outcomes for All Americans

Introduction

Healthy People 2020 is not a new term to most people since it has been used anywhere health issues have been discussed. In nutshell, this is a comprehensive program that seeks to improve the health outcomes to all Americans by the year 2020. The program is divided into indicators which are simplified ways of addressing the health needs. During the past decade, great progress has been made in the health sector and more is set to be done to ensure that the Americans get access to proper health care. Although there are several leading health indicators, this discussion will review access to health services as a major leading health care indicator.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The ability of a person to access health services has a great effect on every aspect of his or her health. The access to health care in America needs to be improved to ensure that as many people as possible have the ability to access health care services effectively. It is estimated that 1 in 4 Americans do not have access to a health center where they can get regular medical services and also do not have a primary care provider. Besides, 1 in 5 Americans does not have a medical insurance. People without insurance are likely to skip routine medical care due to costs and this has direct effect on their health status. When such people decide to access medical services, they are usually burdened with the problem of large medical bills which they have to foot using money from their pockets. To improve the health care of the people, the American government realized that it had to increase the access to both routine medical care and medical insurance.

Georgia is one of the states in America that has seen its rural dwellers experience disparities as regards access to health care. Most people in the rural areas are less likely to have a job-based health insurance and this means that many of them have to spend a lot of money to receive medical attention (Briggs, Wolstenholme, Blakely & Scarborough, 2016). When they do not have the money, they resort to skipping medical checkups and this may affect their health to a great extent. Rural hospitals in Georgia are the only facilities that the people of rural Georgia have access to. These hospitals serve as both economic engines and also the access points for health care services. To ensure that as many Georgians as possible are able to receive health care services, there has been the emergence of initiatives such as Georgians for a Healthy Future which is an initiative that seeks to strengthen the access to health care services.

Health education must include health outcome (Veerman, Barendregt, Mackenbach & Brug, 2006). In 2018, Georgia was ranked the sixth worst state in terms of access to health care. Besides, Georgia was ranked at number 47 together with New Mexico on the states with the lowest percentages of insured adults. Additionally, Georgia was ranked 5th in terms of the states with the highest infant mortality rates (St. Bernard, 2008). These figures are shocking and a revelation of the poor access to health care services. The Health 2020 Indicator on improving access to health services was designed to improve the status of health care in states like Georgia.

In a bid to improve its health care, Georgia has partnered with organizations such as Sharecare to the health status of its citizens. Health organizations are aimed at improving the health of the citizens (Brittin, Elijah-Barnwell, Nam, Araz, Friedow, Jameton & Huang, 2015). Through this plan, Georgia has also defined a reward program which is aimed at rewarding members of the community who practice healthy behaviors. Besides, organizations such as Walmart Inc. have promised to contribute funds to improve the health status of Georgians since it is a partner of Sharecare. Further, Sharecare has devised a method to empower workers such as teachers and state employees and their families to live more productive, healthy lives. It is expected that through the implementation of such programs, then it will be easier for to reduce the infant mortality rates which are experienced in Georgia.

These programs and policies in Georgia have improved the health situation to a great extent. For instance, between 2007-2011, the Infant Mortality Rate in Georgia was 7.3 deaths per 1000 births ("Georgia Department"). This is equivalent to 5175 infant deaths for every 1000 live births. However, this rate has reduced to 6. This has been as a result of improved access to health care. Besides, efforts have been made to reach the rural dwellers since these are the people that have the greatest difficulties in accessing health care services. It is expected that the status of health care will continue to improve.

Conclusion

By and large, Healthy People 2020 Indicators remain important in the improvement of the health care sector. Each of the indicators is a step towards realizing a proper health care system. One of the key indicators is promoting access to health care services. This is an indicator that has been most prevalent in the state of Georgia. It has been facilitated by the development of policies and programs which have helped stabilize the state of health in Georgia.

References

"Georgia Department of Public Health." (2019). https://dph.georgia.gov/infant-mortality

Briggs, A. D. M., Wolstenholme, J., Blakely, T., & Scarborough, P. (2016). Choosing an epidemiological model structure for the economic evaluation of non-communicable disease public health interventions. Population Health Metrics, 14 doi:http://dx.doi.org.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/10.1186/s12963-016-0085-1

Brittin, J., Elijah-Barnwell, S., Nam, Y., Araz, O., Friedow, B., Jameton, A., . . . Huang, T. T. -. (2015). Community-engaged public health research to inform hospital campus planning in a low socioeconomic status urban neighborhood. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 8(4), 12-24. doi:http://dx.doi.org.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/10.1177/1937586715575908

St. Bernard, G. (2008). Is Vision 2020 Twenty-Twenty Vision? A Preliminary Evaluation Of The Process. Social and Economic Studies, 57(1), 139-164. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27866542

Veerman, J. L., Barendregt, J. J., Mackenbach, J. P., & Brug, J. (2006). Using epidemiological models to estimate the health effects of diet behaviour change: The example of tailored fruit and vegetable promotion. Public Health Nutrition, 9(4), 415-20. doi:http://dx.doi.org.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/10.1079/PHN2005873