Future Challenges

Barrier to the expansion of health psychology  Costs of the services

Increasing medical costs  Costs = greatest challenge facing health care  Life expectance will increase  People dying of chronic illness will increase  Illness among old people will continue to increase  Contributes most to health care cost

World leader in years of healthy life  Not U.S.  U.S. is the lowest of industrialized countries providing good health care  Who?  Japan

Higher educational levels live longer  Smoke less  Higher health literacy  Greater access to health care.

Factors increasing medical costs  High-tech medicine  Increasing medical specialists  Administrative costs  Profit motive

Prevention  Primary prevention  Annual health checkup  Immunizing people against the flu (influenza)  Secondary prevention  Screening people for risk  Find potential problems  E.g Asking about smoking

Understanding risks to young  Deaths among the young (E.g. college students)  Behaviors producing unintentional injuries  Automobile crashes  Failure to wear seat belts  5X more likely to be injured