Demography Opening of a new medical facility
The purpose of this study is to examine the kind of demographic logistics that are essential when opening a medical facility in a given location. The paper will focus on highlighting whether demography has a significant relationship to health care. The paper will be of invaluable relevance to investors in the medical field as it will reveal the different types of demographic and market challenges they are likely to encounter when they are laying down their investment plans and eventually when they begin their work.
Demography is defined as the study of quantitative as well as qualitative characteristics that affect human beings. Quantitative factors comprise of density, growth, size, distribution structure and composition. Qualitative aspects also known as sociological factors include quality of education, diet, nutrition, race and wealth. All the mentioned qualitative and quantitative aspects as they relate to demography form the conceptual basis for my initiative which is to start a medical facility in my community.
Target group
The target groups of my project are the city dwellers, both male and female, children and adults and the poor and rich who are all residents of the city. Within the city, there has been a need for a larger, flexible and fulfilling medical facility to complement the existing ones.
Demographic population
The city has population that comprises of both the old and youthful generation with the females surpassing the males with a 25 % majority. Most of the population is located along roads and shopping centers. Considering wealth and race, the project will offer its services irrespective of social standing and ethnicity of people since the city harbors people of mixed origins and diverse economic and socio-cultural standing.
Impact of demographic change on the market
Quantitatively, an increase in density, growth, size and distribution of the population will inhibit the clinic’s potential and growth prospects. Qualitatively, factors like fires, accidents and outbreaks of chronic diseases will expand the clinic’s operation networks. Accidents and criminal activities create casualties hence raising the need for urgent medical attention for the victims.
The clinic will be accessible to all members of the community and it will not only attend to their medical needs but will also create a disease free and reliable resort for the city dwellers. Increase in population or change in structure crates a gap for medical aid. This challenge can only be addressed through creation of potential resources which can only be met by a facility like this one.
Heath and related challenges
Major challenges that are likely to affect the health provisions with regard to the city population include cost and accessibility options. Considering the different social classes and economic classes of people, not all can afford the cost of medical care especially when it comes to chronic illnesses like asthma, allergy, breast cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, and obesity.
Accessibility is bound to be a challenge especially to those who cannot meet the facility’s transportation cost, drug cost and those who reside in the outskirts of the town. Many cases require emergency treatment, efficient communication and adequate financial resources will guarantee its accessibility by the target group.
Relationship between chronic disease wellness program and demographic costs
Programs created to harness awareness of chronic diseases like asthma and breast cancer will attract the attention of the city people including those from the country side. On the other hand, this kind of program may impact fear in people if not properly launched and executed given that people may have reservations especially when exposing their health statuses to doctors in the medical facility (Anna, 2011).
Not all people will be ready to accept the reality of having long term illnesses due to societal stigma and fear that terminal diseases are not curable and therefore end in the death of victims. Certain others will not be ready to adopt curative options provided by the medical facility due to cultural reasons and personal beliefs. On a positive note, educational programs will create acceptance and deal with the challenge of stigma developed by victims of various ailments especially the terminal ones.
Marketing strategy
The project will consider its target group based on the financial power of the various individuals in the community on provision of health services. Satisfaction will be ensured through accessibility in terms of cost and quality (Michael, 1992).
The clinic fraternity will form a constitution that will consider the situation of the market, identification of the major problems affecting the community, allocation of the clinic’s resources, training of medical personnel, communication and follow up activities. This initiative will ensure highest quality production, cost benefit analyses; efficient service delivery of provisions, convenient, faster and effective services.
Approaches to address the challenge
The society has a role to play in addressing challenges related to the installation and implementation of the medical facility. It is the duty of the society to create awareness on chronic and acute illness through religious and political networks. The society’s participation in creating consciousness will enhance confidence in the members of the community and help in management of most of the issues e.g. diabetes, obesity, breast cancer and asthma.
A supportive community demands that all its members are supportive of all noble initiatives in the community. Resource allocations from the community in terms of monetary aid, security, emotional support, sanitation, communication and prevention of accidents will boost the operations of the medical facility. Market development will be based on two scales.
First, it will be based on the local scale targeting subjects in and outside the city. Secondly, the global scale will be considered and prioritized (Alfred, 1976). Global challenges will be considered with part of them being cultural differences, poor negotiation skills, managerial habits and poor business protocol among others.
Emergency procedures, accidents’ prevention, proper and prior immunization, sanitation systems, facility inspection, security training and access control are part of the procedures that will guarantee effective running of the facility and performance of the facility. Health is fundamental for economic, social and political growth of any community. For a successful and thriving economy, the stake holders should consider the health practice and in this case, measures that will be taken into account to enhance economic, political and social growth.
The project will ensure that procedures that assure safety and sanity of the community are adhered to by availing all materials and resources necessary to meet the standards of health and sanitization as per the stipulations of the law. The interest of the members of the community must always come first. For the medical project to fulfill the legal requirements and obligations required by the law, a committee will be established to take care of relevant legislation.
Matters pertaining to registration and acquisition of valid certification will be handled by the committee. The committee will be constituted of members of the ministry of health, representatives of the clinics’ management and community leaders of the community. Networking of the various stakeholders will be coordinated by a select committee consisting of members chosen from the various stakeholders.
A lot of consideration will be accorded to the creation of an efficient communication network that will link all the various stakeholders. Casualties will be handled under a special unit and major medical cases will be referred to consolidated centers within the network. Even though the clinic will be dealing with minor cases, open networks will ensure that the extreme cases are promptly attended to. Other complicated medical cases will be referred to more elaborate medical and referral hospitals.
References
Alfred, W. (1976). Experimenting with Organizational Life: The Action Research Approach. New York, USA: Plenum Press Books.
Anna, A. (2011). Centre for Managing Chronic Diseases. Michigan, USA: University of Michigan Press.
Michael, J. (1992). Marketing strategy and System (2nd ed). London, United Kingdom: Mc Milan Press Limited.