Community Trends - Brian Adamson

I talked with a Ben Conover, BYU Public Health Grad and Nurse at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.

Top 5 Issues/Trends

1. Psychological Disorders
2. Gerontology Falls
3. Drug Abuse
4. Obesity
5. Uninsured population

Psychological Disorders

            This issue is not only a problem in the Community here in Utah Valley, but is an issue that is becoming more prevalent in the news today.  The amount of people who are suicidal and psychologically ill is getting younger and younger.  This is a public health problem and it is difficult to combat this issue.  However, each person should seek or should be referred to a medical professional so that the matter can be controlled.  Many factors contribute to this illness, but each situation needs to be dealt with properly.

 

Gerontology Falls

            There are a growing number of people living longer than ever before.  This is great, however, there is a rise in the amount of falls that these individuals have.  This results in broken hips and wrists and many times requires surgery.  It is a public health problem when these older people fall because it increases medical costs and is tough for the individual and their family to live with the hard recovery.  Within the last few years, there have been increases in falls that hurt the health of the elderly population.  Especially here in Utah Valley, there is a good amount of elderly people who often seek medical attention after a fall, which sometimes requires them to be bedridden the remainder of their life.

Drug Abuse

            Utah Valley is one of the highest abusers of prescription drugs.  Compared to the rest of the United States, it ranks number one.  There may be any reasons for this to be happening and there are campaigns that are currently being implemented in order to combat this problem.  It is interesting that one reason is that they get these drugs from intruding the elderly population homes because they know that there is going to be medication to steal.  Another problem that causes this is the doctor shopping.  There has been an increase in the number of people who are abusing the prescription drugs and many of them intentionally hurt themselves in order to get a prescription.  This is a problem that is hurting the public health community.

Obesity

            There has been an increase in obesity Utah.  This has to do with many factors but is a huge public health issue facing all of us.  This problem alone contributes to multiple health problems and increased healthcare costs.  There are implementations that are trying to combat this problem, but the fact is that good fresh food is expensive and a lot of times is tough to afford.  More and more surgical procedures need to be done to fix issues that come up and many times it leads to years of potential lives lost.  Due to this epidemic, there is an increase in heart attacks and strokes.

Uninsured population

            There is a good chunk of people in Utah who are uninsured.  Compared to the rest of the United States, Utah is not the worst but it is still high.  There are many factors that are contributing to this public health problem.  With the healthcare reform it is uncertain how it will affect the population going forward.  Many of the people who are uninsured need healthcare, but they are only granted care in the Emergency Department, which is the most expensive.  Many times these individuals will forgo a doctor visit and try to take care of the illness themselves.  This is a problem and the community is hurting as a result.  Utah is doing what it can to get people on Medicaid, but the situation is very concerning.