Suchergebnisse

This book reviews the elder care literature pertaining to the Arab world and proposes steps that can be taken to improve the health and quality of life of older people in this region. Organized in three main sections (Program Assessment, Program Planning, Conclusions and Recommendations), the book addresses such topics as developing a conceptual framework; Arab world elder demographics; quality of life issues; demand for services; training issues; training capacity and capabilities; and conclusions and recommendations for improving the health of older persons in the Arab world. While the countries of the Arab world have the advantage of a unified language and culture that can be used to expedite development of area-wide approaches to a system of elder care, the lack of economic and political unification (such as common market and open trade) along with institutionalized age discrimination (some Arab countries restrict hiring for government and private jobs to persons younger than 45) present barriers to improving the health of older people. In addition, modernization and ease of transportation have resulted in a heavy focus on Western-style fast food, with an accompanying increase in chronic diseases such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer

PurposePoor people often experience a delay in meeting their healthcare needs due to their economic situation. As a result, delayed diagnoses and treatment may increase disease severity, increase the risk of death, and enhance disease transmission in the community. The purpose of this paper is to provide important information about health service delays among the poorest people in Turkey.Design/methodology/approachA field study is conducted among the 92 poorest households in the Etimesgut region of Ankara in order to ascertain any delays in health services among the poor, as well as the factors related to those delays.FindingsThe results of the study show that 87 percent of the households lived on a daily income of US$2.15, and that household member's delay seeking healthcare services an average of 4.66±1.17 times in the past year. Reasons for delaying or not seeking healthcare services included the following: participants thought they would get better without doing anything (7.6 percent), by using traditional herbs (12.7 percent), by using pharmaceuticals already on hand (11.4 percent), the health facility was too far away (5.1 percent), and inability to pay (63.3 percent). Significant associations are found between the delaying behaviors, socioeconomic characteristics of households, and health status.Practical implicationsAt the end of the study, policy suggestions are provided for improving medical care seeking behaviors and treatment compliance among the poor.Originality/valuePoverty is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon that consists of income insufficiency, lack of education, malnutrition, and poor health. The relationship between poverty and poor health impacts those who live in poverty as well as communities, organizations and entire countries. Reducing health disparities and decreasing delays and difficulties in access to health care among poor households are important goals.

Background: Following the economic crisis in Greece in 2010, the country's ongoing austerity measures include a substantial contraction of health-care expenditure, with reports of subsequent negative health consequences. A comprehensive evaluation of mortality and morbidity is required to understand the current challenges of public health in Greece. Methods: We used the results of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2016 to describe the patterns of death and disability among those living in Greece from 2000 to 2010 (pre-austerity) and 2010 to 2016 (post-austerity), and compared trends in health outcomes and health expenditure to those in Cyprus and western Europe. We estimated all-cause mortality from vital registration data, and we calculated cause-specific deaths and years of life lost. Age-standardised mortality rates were compared using the annualised rate of change (ARC). Mortality risk factors were assessed using a comparative risk assessment framework for 84 risk factors and clusters to calculative summary exposure values and population attributable fraction statistics. We assessed the association between trends in total, government, out-of-pocket, and prepaid public health expenditure and all-cause mortality with a segmented correlation analysis.