This is an example of a world studies extended essay which was awarded the top grade (A) in 2024. As with the world studies EE, an interdisciplinary approach was utilised, combining the subjects Geography and Economics. This essay is an extremely useful resource for anyone looking to score an A fo...
Title: To what extent has an ageing population led to strain on
healthcare provision in developed countries?
Research Question: To what extent has the UK’s National Health
Service come under strain as a result of demographic ageing?
World studies theme: Health and Development
Subjects: Economics and Geography
,Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Local manifestation.......................................................................................................................4
Methodology................................................................................................................................5
Demand............................................................................................................................................7
Consequences of shift in demand:..............................................................................................10
Supply.............................................................................................................................................11
Direct provision...........................................................................................................................12
NHS Workforce...........................................................................................................................13
NHS Monopsony Power in the Labour Market............................................................................14
An Ageing Workforce..................................................................................................................15
Dependency ratio...........................................................................................................................17
Conclusion......................................................................................................................................19
Bibliography....................................................................................................................................21
, Introduction
We are, arguably, victims of our own success. Improvements across social/economic indicators have
enabled global life expectancy to increase by over 6 years between 2000 and 2019 1. With around
10% of the global population over 65 years of age 2 we are currently facing the phenomenon of an
ageing population. However, while increasing life expectancy is indication of global developments it
does have adverse implications- an example being increased burden on healthcare systems.
3
Figure 1
While people are living longer, they are not necessarily living healthier. In other words, the healthy
life expectancy (HLE) is not increasing at a proportionate rate to life expectancy. Thus, resulting in a
population with increasingly complex medical needs, which must be met. This increased demand
places preassure on healthcare systems and therefore has long-term consequences in the provision
of healthcare. For example, Japan’s healthcare sector is predicted to have a shortage of nearly 1
1
GHE: Life Expectancy and Healthy Life Expectancy. https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/mortality-and-global-
health-estimates/ghe-life-expectancy-and-healthy-life-expectancy. Accessed 20 Mar. 2023.
2
(‘World Population by Age and Region 2022’) ‘World Population by Age and Region 2022’. Statista,
https://www.statista.com/statistics/265759/world-population-by-age-and-region/. Accessed 20 Mar. 2023.
3
‘Median Age’. Our World in Data, https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/median-age. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023.
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