A Study On The Medical Demand Of The Urban Elderly In The Background Of Population Aging

According to population statistics,our country has entered the aging society. It is predicted that in the next 30 years,our country will have an exceptionally large population of the elderly and an exceptionally fast speed of growing. The fast population aging will inevitably bring many new challenges to the favorable economic and social functioning. Thirty years later when our country enters the aging boom,the aging problem will be displayed. Among them,the medical problem is more prominent and difficult to solve. Compared with the gradual aging in developed countries,there will appear a huge group that requires the elderly medical security and the fast aging makes the demands more urgent in our country. In this context,it is quite sensible and essential to study and analyze the medical requirements of the urban elderly,and explore the countermeasures on how to relieve the pressure of medical resources brought by aging,which will help realize the target of establishing a well-off society and constructing a harmonious socialist society.This thesis introduces the current situation and tendency prediction of the urban population aging. By using of a nationwide questionnaire,this thesis analyze the healthy conditions and the current requirements for medical resources of the urban elderly. On the basis of the overall analysis of conditions of possessing and using medical resources,it probes into ways of dealing with the situation,offering reference for relevant program and policy. It presents a detailed analysis of the factors which influence the medical level and demand scope,providing the radical support and countermeasure choice for the safe functioning of social medical security system.The thesis falls into five chapters. The first chapter is the introduction,mainly focusing on the research target and research methods. The second chapter is the literature review. It first surveys the definitions of population aging and health,followed by relevant research on healthy condition and medical demands of the urban elderly,in the end comes a simple commentary of related research. The third chapter concerns the current situation and tendency prediction of population aging in China. Chapter three describes the present situation of population aging in China and predicts its tendency. At first,it depicts the current situation of the city population aging in our country; then it illustrates its characteristics; finally it gives a prediction. Chapter four is the core of this thesis,mainly concentrating on the illustration of the medical demand level and medical scope of the town elderly. In this chapter,through the investigation of probability of falling ill within two weeks,the change of illness specter,probability of suffering from chronic diseases. I explain the health conditions of the urban elderly by use of data from a nationwide questionnaire. On this basis,I analyze the present situation of medical consumption of the urban elderly,and the impairing factors. Then,I analyze the possessing level and using condition of their medical resources,according to such materials as annual health statistics almanac. They have a high probability contracting diseases. Some even suffer from two or three diseases. Among them only one third have fine health condition. The urban elderly's medical expenses are at least three times higher than those of on-the-job workers. Their medical costs take up nearly 80% of all the medical expenditure. As the population of the elderly increases,their medical costs constitute the main body of the whole medical expenditure. For one thing,the urban elderly have a long period of illness,a high probability of contracting diseases,thus they need more medical care. For another thing,our country has a large population of the urban elderly,hence the large medical consumption scope. However our country has scare health resources,low per capita possession of health resources and an irrational distribution structure. The enormous medical demands of the urban elderly and rapidly increasing medical costs pose great pressure on the medical resource in our country and bring severe challenges to the urban medical security system. Chapter five comes the conclusion and countermeasures.Through the analysis,I draw the following conclusions. Our country has a comparatively large number of the urban elderly and their proportion is comparatively large; therefore,in the coming two or three decades,our country will have a population aging boom. Though their life expectancy is increasing,the urban elderly have a rising period of illness; so their physical condition are not optimistic. There exist such problems as the huge medical costs,colossal medical resources consumption scale and rapidly increasing medical demands resources. The population aging pose great pressure on the medical insurance funds and stern challenges to the town medical security system. In accordance with the special background of the urban population aging and the present situation of medical demands of the old people in our country,I put forward the following suggestions. First of all we should have an appropriate understanding of medical security,increase investment input which is directed to the old-people's medical health,put into the effect medical accounts of the urban retired staff and workers as soon as possible,expand the coverage of medical insurance,bring outside system into the medical security system,establish medical supplementary insurance system to satisfy the needs of all the old people,launch widespread medical service,improve the old people's medical care service and establish a multi-layered medical security system for the aged. Besides , we should distribute medical resources rationally,and make the maximum use of the current medical resources. Further more we should improve the risk-resistant ability of funds increase the collecting of medical insurance funds to ensure there are sufficient funds and favorable functioning of medical insurance funds. The elderly should also act from themselves and improve the awareness of disease prevention and health protection,thus turning the ideal of each old people owing the money to have medical treatment.