Health care reform in the simplest terms possible is a part of a governmental policy that affects the way healthcare is delivered in specific places and people. Health care reform gives more options to those who have health care when it comes to which providers they can have.
The reform also improves the amount of access people have to specific specialists and helps to improve people’s overall experience of healthcare, including the quality. Health care reform also increases the number of people that have health care coverage.
The reform is able to give more to citizens and often decreases the amount of health care costs.
Preventative care services and actions put in place to prevent people from needing to access healthcare. This can be done in the form of preventing people from getting sick in the first place or avoiding things that may cause certain diseases are conditions.
This can be done in many ways, such as blood pressure treatment for people that have high blood pressure, or those who smoke. People who have struggles sleeping can use preventative care to have a sleep study done to prevent them from needing further sleep care.
Vaccines are a great example of preventative care. You’re given the flu shot, to prevent you from getting the flu. Overall, preventative care is put in place to keep people healthier and safe from sickness and disease.
There are a handful of different tiers when it comes to prevention. Below you can read about the three tiers in detail.
Primary prevention is when measures are taken to give patients tools and education that they need to avoid diseases and conditions.
In the primary tier, nurses play a large role. They are the ones that inform patients on where they can get help, and what they can do to prevent further health issues. This can range from simple things like reminding people to wear their seat belt, to offering someone a weight loss specialist. Primary prevention is what most people experience when they visit their medical doctor.
This type of prevention is done when a patient already has a disease or is at high risk for certain conditions. Once the disease or condition is identified, nurses will work with patients to help them control the disease and point them in the direction of ways to get rid of specific diseases and conditions that are curable.
Lastly, the third tier has to do with treating patients that have diseases that require things like care plans. This tier is usually accessed when the first two have proven to be successful with the patient. This tier also has more in-depth help, and nurses will work with patients to prevent things from getting any worse than they already are.
Nurses play a significant role when it comes to preventative care with healthcare reform. They do many things to encourage patients to attend things like screenings, take specific medications, and even seek out counseling.
Preventative health care nurses want their patients to do the following things to lead a healthier life:
For starters, it’s important to exercise. Nurses suggest that working out for 30 minutes at least five days a week can prevent things like heart conditions, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and more.
On the note of obesity, the prevention of being overweight is important. This can be done by eating a healthy diet and leading an active life, instead of sedentary. Doing this can also reduce your chances or arthritis and joint issues.
Another thing that goes with prevention and health reform is smoking and drug use. Avoiding these two things will lower your risk of several diseases, including cancers and emphysema. On that note, it’s important that alcohol is consumed only moderately to prevent things like liver disease or a stroke.
Something nurses can also help a lot with is controlling diseases you may already have. If these diseases are found in the early stages, they are much easier to control and overcome. They’ll also take much less of a toll on your health if caught early enough.
To be a preventative care nurse, you have to have a lot of compassion, education, and drive to implement the health care reform and get people the help that they need.
