Kaskie Brian
Department of Health Management and Policy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA.
J Healthc Manag. 2004 Jan-Feb;49(1):32-45; discussion 45-6.
Clinical dementia has become one of the most serious and persistent health problems affecting persons over the age of 65. Efforts to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease and other causes of dementia are ongoing, while healthcare executives continue to face a number of challenges. Access to targeted programs and services for persons with dementia is lacking. The costs of program development and service delivery are substantial. Persons with dementia who do use services often do not receive the most effective and efficient care, and their providers often do not receive sufficient payment. Because few examples exist of how healthcare executives can appropriately respond to these challenges, we created an operational planning strategy. This strategy defines the challenges presented by persons with dementia, identifies four viable responses, and describes two factors that will contribute to successful implementation of these responses. If healthcare executives begin planning now, then the challenges presented by one of the more serious health problems of the next 20 years can be mitigated.
临床痴呆症已成为影响65岁以上人群的最严重且持续存在的健康问题之一。寻找治疗阿尔茨海默病及其他痴呆病因的工作正在进行中，而医疗保健管理人员仍面临诸多挑战。痴呆症患者难以获得针对性的项目和服务。项目开发和服务提供的成本巨大。使用服务的痴呆症患者往往得不到最有效和高效的护理，而他们的护理人员通常也得不到足够的报酬。由于几乎没有医疗保健管理人员如何妥善应对这些挑战的实例，我们制定了一项运营规划策略。该策略明确了痴呆症患者带来的挑战，确定了四种可行的应对措施，并描述了有助于成功实施这些应对措施的两个因素。如果医疗保健管理人员现在就开始规划，那么未来20年更严重的健康问题之一所带来的挑战便可得到缓解。
