Demand, in general, determines the way of consumer behavior. Demand does not mean the customers’ desire to have something, it only includes the variables that describe the consumers’ wish together with the ability to purchase (Megiste 2011). In modern society, experts need to analyze the demand for medical care because it helps to identify the factors that are responsible for a person’s consumption of medical services. This kind of analysis is applied to determine the factors that influence the person’s willingness to consume and the individual ability to fulfill this desire.
The factors that impact a person’s ability and desire to utilize medical services and care are multiple. Among the most influential individual factors that influence demand are income, education, marital status, healthy child development, culture (Health Economics Information Resources: A Self-Study Course 2013).
The changes in people’s levels of income significantly impact the rates of medical services consumption. Increasing income always causes the increase of demand for medical care because the consumer has an ability and willingness to pay more for the services (The Demand for Medical Care. Factors that Determine the Demand for Health Care n. d.). Education influences the demand because health literacy depends directly on the level of a person’s education about the health risks they are exposed to. Married people have lower demand for medical care because in case of a sickness a spouse can take care of them.
Child development is a very important factor that determines a person’s state of health in adult life, according to the upstream approach, and general quality of health is a determinant that makes people consume more or less medical services. Finally, various cultural groups of people are known to share the same lifestyle and diseases. For example, the female population of Hispanic people living in the USA and Canada has a high risk of getting HPV, besides their level of health literacy and low English proficiency negatively affect their demand for medical care they require (Kobetz et al. 2010).
The situation with the population of Hispanics and the high rates of risks of cervical cancer due to the spreading of HPV presents an example of a case when the consumers have incomplete information about the productivity of health care and their health status. The researchers noted that the awareness and knowledge about HPV are very low among the population of Hispanic men and women living in the United States and Canada.
The patients and people that are potentially exposed to the virus are not educated about the dangers this sickness brings, its direct connection with the development of cervical cancer, and various ways of treatment or prevention that are available today due to the development of medical care services. The principal role in this situation falls on the state Ministry of Health which is responsible for the health care policies and approaches towards this particular ethnic group and fulfilling its needs. The social group needs education and knowledge.
Awareness of the risks these people are exposed to and the measures of prevention will increase the demand for medical care among Hispanics and prevent the development of the diseases. The agent role is played by the nurses, teachers, medical volunteers that will work with people of this group and introduce them to the policies, risks, and disease prevention.
Reference List
Health Economics Information Resources: A Self-Study Course (2013). NIH. Web.
Kobetz, E., Kornfeld, J., Vanderpool, R. C., Finney Rutten L. J., Parekh, N., O’Bryan, G. & Menard, J. Knowledge of HPV among United States Hispanic Women; Opportunities and Challenges for Cancer Prevention. Journal of Health Communication 15(3), 22-29.
Megiste, F. (2010). Demand for Health Care. Web.
The Demand for Medical Care. Factors that Determine the Demand for Health Care. (n. d.). TDMU. Web.