National Health Interview Survey

1. The shift in demographics will have a drastic impact on health status, health services, and health expenditures. With constant advancement in research in technology regarding health and diseases, the population of old age people is increasing significantly. A way to measure health status is performing activities of daily living (ADL). In the National Center for Health Statistics' National Health Interview Survey, it was reported that in 1980, 3.1 non-institutionalized million people needed assistance with these daily activities. However, when looking at the projected numbers for 2040, this number will more than just double to 7.9 million people. I agree with these projected numbers because if the life expectancy is becoming longer and longer, more people will reach fairly high ages. This will cause in the natural deterioration of the body, causing the overall older population to require assistance with daily activities. This projection is clearly …show more content…
This is due to the aging of the population. I agree with this because as a person ages, they are usually more vulnerable to accidents. Accidents can be ranging anywhere from a twisted ankle to a car accident, or even just health issues in general. The aging effect will cause short-stay hospital days to double, from 274 million in 1980 to 549 million in 2040. Nursing home residents will increase as well. The projected number of residents in 2040 is 5.2 million, compared to 1.5 million in 1980. I both disagree and agree with the fact that the number of residents of nursing homes will significantly increase. This is because I think that older people will be able to take care of themselves as technology built in the home can help them perform tasks that they couldn't have performed years ago in 1980. However, not all older people will be able to access new in-home technologies, and thus, they will need to go to nursery