Posted: April 20th, 2022

The fundamental goal of population health is to improve the overall health

Cira N Perez Miranda

The fundamental goal of population health is to improve the overall health of the population in all dimensions. In essence, due to population changes marked by an increase in the number of elderly people and a higher prevalence of chronic illness. There is a pressing need to employ cost-cutting and quality-improvement methods in the healthcare industry. Health-care research and development tends to encompass a wide range of topics, from wellness to life-threatening illnesses (Nash et al., 2015). The domains of wellness tend to range from physical, social, spiritual, intellectual, environmental, and social wellness. Meanwhile, population health can be classified into five segments, namely the behavioral, social, newborn, child segment, and maternal segments.

The behavioral and the social segment are of importance in research. In essence, both segments tend to influence access to and the utilization of health care services. Specifically, human behaviors tend to impact population health both positively and negatively (Nash et al., 2015). On the other hand, social, -economic factors tend to limit access to health care, acts as an indicator of morbidity and mortality and contribute to health disparities and inequalities (Cai et al., 2017). Thus, when conducting research, it is important to gain insight into the behavioral patterns within the general population and the risk factors associated with such behaviors. Similarly, taking the social-economic segment into consideration provide data on what systems and programs can be implemented to address health disparities and improve population health.

Another important segment worth including in research is related to maternal and infant health. In essence, healthy populations are characterized by high-quality maternal outcomes, a low rate of maternal deaths, and post-birth complications (Nash et al., 2015). Also, the prevalence of high infant mortality rate, child malnutrition, and other infant-related complication is an indication of a poor health system. Thus, when conducting research, establishing clear goals using data from the maternal and the infant segment is important in program formulation and addressing gaps in care delivery, and providing a framework for constant quality improvement. Also, data from the newborn segment, which is the most vulnerable group in the general population, is important when developing or undertaking research in population development.

References

Cai, J., Coyte, P. C., & Zhao, H. (2017). Determinants of and socio-economic disparities in self-rated health in china. International Journal for Equity in Health, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-016-0496-4

Nash, D. B., Fabius, R. J., Skoufalos, A., Clarke, J. L., & Horowitz, M. R. (2015). Population Health: Creating a Culture of Wellness (2nd ed.). Jones And Bartlett Publishers.

Abey Hernandez Marin

12 hours ago, at 9:21 PM

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Hello Dr. Alonso and Class,

Population segmentation is essential when it comes to health promotion. It arises due to the rise of the integrated care system that helps to promote health among the populations. The segmentation involves an analysis that facilitates the division of populations into subgroups to understand the needs and health priorities better.

The first one is whole-population segmentation which targets the entire population. The strategy is suitable for planning development by the national or federal governments (Chong et al., 2019). Research is thus key to identifying the issues affecting the entire nation. One of its limitations is that some populations may not get the correct representation. The other type is sub-population segmentation, which targets the entire population’s subsets. It can always be the second stage after the whole-population based. Its advantage is that it narrows down the affected population compared to the latter. The research thus needs to ensure that they look for the subset most affected by the issue to help identify the relevant population that needs help.

Audience segmentation is another type that targets specific audiences. It is good as it helps to focus on the needs and priorities within a given population. It helps tailor the message to address the population’s needs based on their requirements, such as culture. Such information is critical for researchers as it helps them identify the specific characteristics of the affected people (Low et al., 2019). The other type is outcome-based which focuses on the result. It helps to quantify the outcomes and progress. The last one is the geodemographic segmentation which targets based on geography. One of the limitations is that it can overlap with the whole population and the researchers need to know this to prevent double or duplication of work.

References

Chong, J., Lim, K., & Matchar, D. (2019). Population segmentation based on healthcare needs: a systematic review. Systematic Reviews, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-019-1105-6

Low, L., Kwan, Y., Ma, C., Yan, S., Chia, E., & Thumboo, J. (2019). Predictive ability of an expert-defined population segmentation framework for healthcare utilization and mortality – a retrospective cohort study. BMC Health Services Research, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-4251-6

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