1. Warm-up
List 5 influences on your choice of health care products or services. Circle the two that most often affect your decisions
Remember yesterday we talked about choices. Keep in mind what type of choices you have when choosing a product or service? Are you limited in your choices because of external factors? Answer these questions after circling the two factors that affect you most.

2. Consumer Issues
Lesson 3

3. objectives
Identify factors that influence consumer decisions about health care products, services and information
Demonstrate ways to utilize criteria to evaluate health products, services and messages
Identify, describe, and assess available health-related services in the community that relate to disease prevention and health promotion
Identify the impact of technology and medical advances on personal, family, and community health

4. Making Consumer Choices
Health Consumer: anyone who purchases or uses health products or services
Become an informed consumer

5. Influences Internal Factors: habits, personal taste
External factors: family members, friends, cost, MEDIA

6. Media The various methods of communicating information Tv Radio
Magazines
Newspapers
Internet

7. Advertising
Written or spoken media message designed to interest consumers in purchasing a product or service
Problems:
Primary purpose of advertising is to get your attention and sell the product
Figure 3.1 page 49: Techniques advertisers use to persuade consumers to purchase their products
Look at the advertisement you brought it. What category does it fall in to? Does it fall into more than one? What message does the ad communicate? How could this message affect you as a consumer?
STOP after first bullet
Pull out the advertisement you were supposed to bring today. Lay it on your desk and we will walk around looking at the various ads. Discuss a common theme among the ads. What is the ads primary goal? Is it wise to make your purchasing decisions based upon these ads? NO

8. Comparing Choices
Comparative Shopping: method of judging the benefits of different products by comparing several factors, such as quality, features and cost
Look at the labels
Product name and use
Directions
Warnings
Ingredients, active ingredients
If 2 products have the same ingredients listed, which would be the better one to buy?

9. Criteria Cost: What is your price range?
Features: What product features are most important to you?
Quality: look for well made products, a brands reputation
Warranty: company’s agreement to repair a product or refund your money if it does not function properly, how much does the warranty cover?
Safety: utmost importance! Does the product meet safety guidelines set?
Recommendations: Talk to people who have used the products you are looking at. After all they, themselves are already informed consumers because of using the product.

10. Consumer Rights Right to safety Right to choose Right to be informed
Right to be heard
Right to have problems corrected
Right to consumer education

11. Choosing community Health Services
Health Care System: all the medical care available to a nation’s people, the way they receive care, and the method of payment.
General Care
Primary Care physicians- medical doctors who provide physical checkups and general care
School nurses
Dentists
Specialized Care
Specialists- medical doctors trained to handle particular kinds of patients or medical conditions

12. Facilities Private Practices- single doctor, office
Clinics- community clinic
Group Practices- multiple doctors, shared office
Hospitals- inpatient and outpatient care
Emergency Rooms- potential life threatening situations
Urgent Care Center- non life threatening emergencies. Patients normally go when their primary care physician is unavailable

13. Trends in Health Care
Birthing Centers- homelike setting, involving family members in the birth of a a baby
Drug treatment centers- specialize in treating people with drug and alcohol problems
Continuing care/ assisted living facilities- short and long term care for people who need help with daily tasks but do not need professional medical care
Hospices- care for terminally ill, experts at managing pain and providing emotional support for patient and his or her family
Telemedicine- practice of medicine over distance through telecommunication equipment

14. Problems with Products
Fraud: deliberate deceit or trickery
Health Fraud: sale of worthless products or services that claim to prevent diseases or cure other health problems
Weight loss products
Beauty and anti aging products
Mal Practice: failure by a health professional to meet accepted standards
Medicare Fraud Fact Sheet
From
Diet pills, fad diets claiming people can lose weight over night, could be harmful, same applies to the beauty and aging products. Look for FDA approval

15. What Do YOU Think? Who should be held responsible when a
consumer is “taken in” by a misleading
claim—the advertiser or the consumer?
Why? Does it depend on the product or service?

16. Homework Watch television for 15 minutes.
During that 15 minute time period, record the advertisements you see.
Next to the product, decide whether the
advertisement “convinced” you to buy the
product or service. Why or why not?
Remember advertisements include
commercials and products mentioned during a television show.
Be prepared to discuss this next class!