As more millennials enter the healthcare workforce, health outcomes of the baby boomer generation increasingly will depend on the quality of communication with a generation that has grown up in a very different time.
First, the good news for baby boomers: They are living longer than people of previous generations. The bad news: They are less healthy. However, the overall health of older baby boomers has been trending higher. By the year 2029, the youngest boomers will reach retirement age, bringing the total of Americans age 65 or older to 71 million. Older adults, their caretakers, and healthcare professionals will need to work together to ensure that baby boomers’ health trends go in a positive direction.
Healthy aging requires healthy behavior changes at the individual level, but it also depends on the availability of sufficient healthcare coverage and accessibility of healthcare resources, including healthcare providers. So what will the healthcare system need to meet this growing demand, while also struggling with limited resources—including an estimated shortage of 90,000 physicians? Improved patient—provider communication would help. Better patient–provider relationships encourage healthier outcomes. Leaders of healthcare systems studied by Harvard Business Review “believe that by promoting relationship building on an individual patient level, favorable costs and outcomes will follow.”
Mutual trust is the foundation of these relationships. Providers must trust their patients are being honest about taking their medications, accurately reporting symptoms, and discussing lifestyle choices and behaviors that may contribute to their conditions. Patients must trust that their providers are capable and nonjudgmental, and that following their instructions will lead to better health. However, these relationships are not always easy to form during the 15 to 20 minutes of an average doctor visit.
As baby boomers age, more millennials will enter the health care workforce. Health outcomes of the baby boomer generation will depend heavily on the quality of communication with a generation that has grown up in a very different time. The United States has changed drastically since baby boomers were children. To help facilitate more effective and meaningful intergenerational discussions about health care, MPH@GW, the online Master of Public Health program offered by The Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University, developed The “When I Was Your Age…” Guide to Health Care Conversations.
Millennials and baby boomers have experienced different waves of social, economic, political and health care reform at different stages of their lives. As health outcomes become increasingly dependent on strong patient—provider relationships, it will be even more important to understand the generational context for people’s beliefs, practices and behaviors.
Click on images below to enlarge
Specialty Pharmacists at the Forefront: Elevating Care for Rare Diseases
May 1st 2024In the US, a disease is considered rare when it affects fewer than 200,000 persons, or 1 in every 1500 individuals, with an estimated total of 25 to 30 million Americans overall living with a rare disease at any given time.
Read More
Tackling Health Inequality: The Power of Education and Experience
April 30th 2024To help celebrate and recognize National Minority Health Month, we are bringing you a special month-long podcast series with our Strategic Alliance Partner, UPMC Health Plan. Welcome to our final episode of this limited series and our conversation with Janine Jelks-Seale, MSPPM, director of health equity at UPMC Health Plan.
Listen
Latest Advances and Updates of Treatment in the Real World at AUA
May 1st 2024The annual meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) not only presents the newest therapies coming out but showcases the latest in how treatments are being used in the real world, said Stephen Freedland, MD, of Cedars Sinai.
Read More
Examining Low-Value Cancer Care Trends Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 25th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the April 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on the rates of low-value cancer care services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Listen
BRCA-Like Classification May Be a Useful Biomarker for Olaparib Response in Ovarian Cancer
May 1st 2024Adding olaparib to maintenance therapy with bevacizumab was associated with significantly longer survival for patients with ovarian cancer whose tumors have a BRCA-like genomic profile, but not among those with non-BRCA-like tumors, a study found.
Read More