To say that healthcare is the lifeblood of a society is an understatement in many respects. The sheer costs associated with keeping the U.S. healthy defy imagination: national health expenditures reached $2 trillion in 2005, the latest year for which government statistics are available, and they are projected to double by 2015, reaching 20% of the gross domestic product.
Rising costs on everything from health insurance premiums to prescription drugs to care services makes managing health and wellness decisions an issue of critical importance to most consumers. At the same time, consumers are taking (or being required to take) more control over managing their personal health.
In general, older adults are notably more reliant on the word of medical professionals, while younger adults are open to suggestions and advice from a wider variety of sources. It also bears noting that 18-to-24 year olds in particular are considerably more likely than others to be influenced by traditional media (print and TV) as well as materials issued by pharmaceutical companies, including brochures and pamphlets for prescription drugs and TV or online advertisements.
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