16-11-21 - Common Sense Model of Treatment

Question 1

What are illness beliefs?

Why are illness beliefs important?

What 3 things do illness beliefs allow us to do?

Answer 1

• Illness beliefs are individual and acquired during life and during the course of an illness
• Illness beliefs are important as they provide patients with a framework for coping with and understanding their illness

• Illness beliefs allow us to:

1) Understand how different people make sense of different illnesses
2) Predict health behaviours
3) Change health behaviours

Question 2

What do good treatment outcomes depend on?

Answer 2

• Good treatment outcomes depend on good medical care and self-management
• Self-management relies on appropriate use of medicine by the individual i.e adherence
• Adherence is vital for optimal treatment outcomes

Question 3

What 2 things is appropriate use of medicine by an individual (adherence) dependent on?

What are some major predictors of poor adherence to medication?

Answer 3

1) Ability – e.g misunderstanding, forgetting, physical impairment
2) Motivation – the individual’s personal motivation to adhere to their medication. This can be influenced by treatment beliefs formed by exposure to information or past experiences

Question 4

What are the 2 categories beliefs about prescribed medicine can be grouped into?

What are example of each?

Answer 4

• 2 categories beliefs about prescribed medicine can be grouped into:

1) Necessity – personal need for treatment

• Examples:
• ‘My health depends on this mediicne’
• ‘These medicines protect me from becoming worse’
• ‘Without these medicines I would be very ill’
• Can involve beliefs about efficacy
• Percieved nercessitt determine adherence more than treatment efficacy

2) Concerns – about negative effects of treaetment
• Can be concrete, abstract, relevant acorss a range of disease states and cultures

• Examples:
• Experience of unpleasant side effects
• Disruptive effects of medication on daily living
• Worries that medication could lead to long term effects
• May be specific to a particular clas of medicine:
• ‘Regular use of analgesic (pain-relief) medication will make it less effective in the future

Question 5

What are 4 necessity beliefs that can affect treatment necessity and treatment options?

What are examples of each?

Answer 5

Here’s a simpler explanation of the points:

1. Identity
   
   • People decide if they need treatment based on how severe their symptoms are or if they even have symptoms.
   • For example: Severe pain might make someone seek help, while mild or no symptoms might not.
2. Cause
   
   • Beliefs about the cause of illness influence treatment choices, even if the cause isn’t proven.
   • For example: Thinking an illness is caused by poor diet may lead someone to change their eating habits instead of taking medicine.
3. Timeline and Consequences
   
   • How long someone thinks the illness will last and its impact affects their decision to get treatment.
   • For example: If someone thinks asthma only flares up occasionally, they might skip daily preventative medication.
4. Control
   
   • Beliefs about what controls the illness shape treatment decisions.
   • For example: Someone may rely on medicine, while another may prefer lifestyle changes like exercise or diet.

In short, people’s beliefs about symptoms, causes, duration, and control of an illness influence whether and how they seek treatment.

Question 6

What might concern of treatment also comprise?

What else may there be concerns about?

Answer 6

Symptoms and Treatment Concerns:
Symptoms can make people question whether a treatment is effective.
For example: If someone taking antidepressants still feels sad, they might think the medication isn’t working.

Concerns About the Necessity of Treatment:
People may doubt if treatment is truly needed, especially if they feel their illness isn’t severe enough.

Impact on Self-Identity:
Taking medication can feel like a threat to how someone sees themselves.
For example: Taking antidepressants might make someone feel labeled as “mentally ill,” which could affect their self-esteem or sense of normalcy.

Question 7

How are treatment beliefs and adherence linked?

Answer 7

• Treatment beliefs are strong predictors of reported treatment adherence
• E.g patients have treatment beliefs about chronic illnesses such as asthma and diabetes which will influence their adherence to taking their medication in order to stay healthy

Question 8

What is illness representation?

Answer 8

• Illness representation is the patients’ beliefs and expectations about an illness or somatic symptom

Question 9

How can treatment beliefs be integrated into the CSM?

Answer 9