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How My Experience Reflects My Ability to Excel at Penn State
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How My Experience Reflects My Ability to Excel at Penn State
I believe my background shapes my experiences and this places me at an advantage in succeeding at Penn State. I am originally from Ghana, Africa, which makes my worldview different from the views of other learners who have lived in first-world countries. I believe that all the hardships that I went through as a child, teenager and now as an adult were preparing me for this moment.
I was born in a rural village in central Ghana to a family of five siblings. I am the eldest in our family, and because of this, I tend to take the initiative and control things, especially in the absence of my parents. I believe that these traits will help me when dealing with group dynamics at Penn State because I possess leadership traits that come with being the firstborn. I am a first-generation student, meaning I am the first person to pursue higher education in our family. This places me in the spotlight, as many people look up to me as an example. This will motivate me to work twice as hard to keep my grades up because I know failure is not an option for me. I know that many people are looking up to and I have set a good example for them to emulate. Being a first-generational student from a rural village back In Ghana gives me all the motivation that I need to excel at Penn State.
Another experience that places me at a better chance of succeeding at Pen State is my upbringing. Being brought up in a rural village in Ghana means that I faced lots of adversities. I believe these experiences will make me a better and more hardworking person. I hope to one day give back to society in Africa for making me a great and hardworking person. I will admit that I did not always have everything I needed. Sometimes I would be forced to stay with a pair of shoes longer than I had anticipated, and sometimes I would walk many kilometers in the rain to get to school. Additionally, there would be times I would be sent back from school for having school fees arrears, and at times I would be forced to pretend not to be hungry because I did not have lunch for the day. I believe that all these hardship experiences that I went through growing up place me in a better position to succeed at Penn University because the environment is student-friendly, and now I am in a country where there is no adversity but nearly everything is in abundance. If I excel in my studies under such tough conditions, I believe I will do just as well at Penn State, considering the facilities are so much better compared to those back home in Ghana. With school loans, I believe I will not have a reason to be sent home, meaning that I can direct all my focus towards excelling in my studies.
How much will the quantity of emergency care fall if user fees are increased
How much will the quantity of emergency care fall if user fees are increased?
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Background
In Hong Kong, there is a high demand for the accident and emergency services that are provided by the Hospital Authority and the Emergency Ambulatory services. Despite the measures that have been adopted by the HA to address the demand of these services, and limit them to only the urgent needs, there has been an increase of semi-urgent and non-urgent demand for these services. In addition to that, the population of the senior population in Hong Kong is expected to increase from 13% in 2011 to 30% by 2041⁶. This is also expected to occur in the Mainland China region. An increase in the number of the ageing population will increase the burden on the healthcare services, especially in terms of the Accident and Emergency services (AES). There is the need to assess if an increase in the emergency services fees will contribute to a reduction in the demand of the emergency services in Hong Kong.
Economic Analysis
Supply of Accident and Emergency Healthcare Services
Supply entails the willingness and the ability to sell a product at a given price, and over a specific duration. This means that in an ideal situation, a company is able to measure its overall cost in the production, and determine its ability to produce to a specific number of clients¹. However, the complexity of the relationship between health care services and health care needs indicates that it can be difficult to specify how an output will be impacted as a result of the changes in the inputs³. It may be difficult to determine, if an increase in the health care staff and emergency and accident casualty rooms will improve the access of these services to patients as health care is not considered a direct benefit to the consumer.
In actual sense, in the determination of the capability of a health care facility to provide the required emergency and accident services, the facility has to take into consideration the influences on the supply⁴. It is imperative for the organization to take into consideration the overall costs that the hospital will incur. An organization had to take into consideration its goals of increasing the supply of the accident and emergency services⁵. The health care facility located in an area where there is a high likelihood of accident victims, and how will the increase of these services improve the quality of the services that they are provided with.
Demand for the Accident and Emergency Services
Demand of a product is important in terms of understanding the consumption patterns, specifically, the overall relationship between the price of a product, and the overall quantity that will be demanded. In the event that the price of the accident and emergency services is increased, it will contribute to a decrease in the overall demand of this service. A majority of people will only use these services when it is essential, for instance, during life threatening situations¹. At this point the value of an individual will be considered to be higher than the prices that are charged to access this service. To put it into perspective, for these services, a change in price will result in a smaller percentage change in the overall demand of this product, which is an indication that this will be an inelastic demand. Even in the newspaper article, it indicated that, it is expected that a 120% price hike will result into a 10% decrease in demand. The change in demand, is considered less significant, in comparison to the changes in the overall prices of the product³. Emergency and accident health care services are a necessity for a patient who has either been involved in an accident, or is experiencing a high risk situation. This means that if they do not get access to the required services, then it is highly probable that they may die, or their health situation will become worse.
Policy Recommendation
Based on the analysis of the two economic models, it highly unlikely that a price hike will reduce the demand of the accident and emergency services in Hong Kong. The demand of the AES in Hong Kong is attributed to conveniene and accessibility. Other factors that have contributed to the increase in the demand of the AES are shortage of out-patient services, and lack of primary healthcare services. Policy recommendations have to deal with these issues. There is the need to have an increase in out-patient services. There is the need to improve the availability of medical practitioners for consultation services. This will ensure that the needs of the semi-urgent and non-urgent patient health care services are met, and addressed. If this is achieved, it will contribute to a reduction of the demand for AES.
Evaluation
Conducting randomised controlled trials on health institutions whereby there has been a price hike of the accident and emergency services can help in determining the supply of the service in relation to its demand⁵. Researchers can conduct interviews, or use questionnaires to collect data from them, which will be subjected to data analysis and the researchers will determine the actual impact of price hike of these health services on the overall demand.
Summary
The focus of this paper was to evaluate the impact of price hike on the demand of emergency and accident services in the Hong Kong hospitals. Using the Demand and Supply economic models, it was determined that it will result in an inelastic demand, because this is an essential service. To reduce the demand from semi-urgent and non-urgent patients, there is the need to improve the consultation, and out-patient services in Hong Kong.
Reference List
Choi, H. (2018). Disproving market demand and market supply. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3203158Chung, C. (2007). Emergency department direct access to computed tomography. Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine, 14(4), 195-197. https://doi.org/10.1177/102490790701400401Gaspar, J. M. (2018). undefined. Journal of Applied Mathematics, 2018, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/3193068Lu, C., Fang, J., & Fu, S. (2020). undefined. Mathematical Problems in Engineering, 2020, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/2093593Malyshkin, V. G. (2016). Market dynamics. On a muse of cash flow and liquidity deficit. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3040580Yip, W. L., Fan, K. L., Lui, C. T., Leung, L. P., Ng, F., & Tsui, K. L. (2015). Utilization of the accident & emergency departments by Chinese elderly in Hong Kong. World Journal of Emergency Medicine, 6(4), 283. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4677071/
Ethiopian Malaria
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Ethiopian Malaria
Malaria occurs due to infection with Plasmodium parasites. They are mainly four types of the parasite that affect humans: Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium malariae, and Plasmodium ovale (Mouchet, Pierre, and Sylvie 59). P. vivax and P. falciparum species are the main causative agents of malaria in Ethiopia. The parasites are transmitted through the Anopheles mosquito, which is the malaria vector, and the disease is spread through the bites of infected mosquitoes. The disease manifests itself in the individual seven to fourteen days after infection. Common symptoms include chills, fever, malaise, headache, and vomiting. Plasmodium falciparum causes severe malaria, which is fatal if not treated within 24 hours of infection. The symptoms of the severe malaria in children include cerebral malaria, respiratory complications due to metabolic acidosis or chronic anemia while adults often develop multi-organ complications. Individuals residing in endemic areas often develop partial immunity to malaria. Susceptible groups with weakened immunity include children, the elderly, pregnant mothers, HIV/AIDS patients, and travelers from non-endemic areas (World Health Organization Web).
Malaria is a global concern because it is the most infectious disease particularly in Sub Saharan Africa. In Ethiopia, it occurs in about 75% of the country and affects about 40 million or 68% of the country’s population. Transmission of the malady is common during the rainy season in the months between March and May, and September to December (Lautze 55). High-risk areas include areas that are 2000 meters above sea level, which have a favorable microclimate for the development of malaria parasites. According to a WHO epidemiological profile recorded in 2011, high transmission areas where the rate of infection is more than one case per 1000 individuals recorded 847000 individuals affected by the disease. Low risk areas where the rate of infection is 0-1 cases per 1000 individuals recorded 55 900 000 cases while safety zones with zero cases recorded 28 000 000 individuals. The total number of infected individuals in the same year totaled to 56 747 000 cases out of a population of 84 747 000 World Health Organization Web).
Timely malaria diagnosis is essential in controlling and preventing the disease since misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis could lead to death. The main diagnostic methods include microscopy and rapid diagnostic tests. The diagnostic tests are significant in improving the control of the disease and minimizing the spread and the emergence of drug resistance by reserving antimalarials especially in infected patients. Microscopy involves the inspection of blood under the microscope for malaria parasites. A high number of hospitals and large health clinics often use microscopy for malaria diagnosis, but the method if often considered inadequate. Diagnosis results in both methods are ready within 15 minutes after collection of a finger prick of blood. Treatment of Plasmodium falciparum, which is the major causative agent of malaria in Ethiopia, involves the use of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) (World Health Organization Web).
Both local and international bodies have been actively involved in the prevention and treatment of malaria in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian government has devised a five-year National Malaria Prevention and Control Strategic Plan. The plan aims at reducing the morbidity and malaria-related mortality in the country by 75% by the end of the year 2013. Other local bodies including the Regional Health Bureaus (RHBs) and the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) have also collaborated with the government with the aim of enhancing socioeconomic conditions and health in Ethiopia. International bodies such as the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) have also formulated policies and programs aimed at preventing and controlling malaria in the country (World Health Organization Web). The aforementioned organizations have played significant roles to boost the access to equitable, timely, and requisite services for the population in malaria prone areas and the country as whole.
Works Cited
Lautze, Jonathan. Incorporating Malaria Control into Reservoir Management: A Case Study from Ethiopia. Ann Arbor: ProQuest, 2007. Print.
Mouchet, Jean, Pierre Carnevale, and Sylvie Manguin. Biodiversity of Malaria in the World. Montrouge Country: John Libbey Eurotext, 2008. Print.
World Health Organization. Malaria. 2013. Web. 6 December 2013.
World Health Organization. World Malaria Report .2012. Web. 6 December 2013.