We are constantly bombarded with trends; fashion trends, color trends, even styles of cars or houses that we are told will be popular. What about health trends? What can we see happening with the health of our nation? Is obesity still rising? Are people exercising more? Are fewer people smoking? Once data has been put into a visualization, we can see the trends year after year and attempt to make predictions about the future of population health.

What health trends have you seen recently, and what can this tell us about the future of population health in the United States or around the globe?

Ashley Cline posted Apr 23, 2020 9:05 PM

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1. What health trends have you seen recently, and what can this tell us about the future of population health in the United States or around the globe?

One health trend that I have seen that has increased over the years is wearables that includes things like smart watches and fitness watches. I believe these have become more popular because people are wanting to take better control of their own health. Fitness watches and smart watches offer consumers the ability to keep track of their heart rate, sleep patterns, and most importantly track their exercises. “The use of wearable technology has more than tripled in the last four years and more than 80% of consumers are willing to wear fitness technology” (Phaneuf, 2020). I think what this shows for the future of population health is that people care more about their health and want to be healthy and fit.

References

Phaneuf, A. (2020, January 31). Latest trends in medical monitoring devices and wearable health technology. Retrieved from Business Insider: https://www.businessinsider.com/wearable-technolog…

Ana Cruz posted Apr 23, 2020 1:51 AM

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Hi Everyone,

Nowadays, the situation we are facing globally, which is the COVID-19, makes us think how fragile the human body is. Entire countries are locked down in order to limit spread the virus. Under these circumstances, some people need medical attention for any reason and something that can help these patients is Telemedicine. This is a fast and effective solution for people that need to be treated by a doctor. In the past, this was not too much of an option. According to an article from the medical futurist published on March 2020 stated “a study showed that in the U.S. alone, 82 percent of consumers do not use such services. This sad reality can be attributed to the lack of improper infrastructure to support it and to the lack of awareness”. With the rise of this pandemic, Telemedicine got itself as the perfect solution. This will limit patient from going to hospitals or any other facility to avoid spreading the virus. “Both the CDC and WHO are advocating for telemedicine to monitor patients and reduce risks of them spreading the virus by traveling to hospitals.” (2020). some companies that offer medical insurance also includes the service for telemedicine. I personally have experience using the one of these companies, it was called MDLive. It was very late night and around my community there was not urgent care open 24 hours, so I made the call and they asked me a lot of questions and send the medication to the pharmacy to pick up. It was a good experience and I didn’t need to leave my house to drive to a facility and wait for hours to see a doctor. I believe that this is a good global trending for 2020: Telemedicine; It is in the right moment and there is no sign of slowing down any time soon.

Thanks

Ana Cruz

Reference:

The Medical Futurist. (2020). COVID-19 and the rise of Telemedicine. Retrieved from: https://medicalfuturist.com/covid-19-was-needed-for-telemedicine-to-finally-go-mainstream/