1b: Health beliefs and behaviour Flashcards
No.1 cause of preventable illness and death
Smoking is the number one cause of preventable illness and death.
% of overweight/obese men and women
7/10 men
6/10 women
Obesity is due to which 4 factors
Bio- genetics
Food supply-individual
Societal influences- individual psychology
Activity environemnt
5 modern day killers
dietary excess alcohol consumption lack of exercise smoking unsafe sexual behaviour
What is health behaviour
Any activity undertaken by an individual believing himself to be healthy, for the purpose of preventing disease or detecting it at an asymptomatic stage
Behaviour change interventions
Population, community (myocardiology), individual (doctor consultations)
T/F education has important role in continuous behaviours such as smoking
Not really….. Information does have an important role and is most effective for discrete behaviours (eg getting a child vaccinated)
Learning theory:
cues for unhealthy eating
Visual (eg. fast food signs, sweets at checkout)
Auditory (eg. ice cream bell)
Olfactory (eg. smell of baking bread)
Location (eg. the couch or car)
Time (eg. evening)/ Events (eg. end of TV programme )
Emotional (eg. bored, stressed, sad, happy).
Positive/negative reinforcement as well as punishment relating to obesity with examples
Positive reinforcement:
- Dopamine (feel good), filling an empty void/boredom.
- Praise for preparing a high-fat meal for the family.
Negative Reinforcement:
-Avoid painful emotions by comfort eating.
Punishment:
-Preparing a low fat meal is criticised.
Problem with positive and negative reinforcement relating to health eating
Positive: Efforts at dietary change/weight loss go unnoticed by others;
Negative Avoiding future health problems is too remote.
Types of behaviour modification techniques
- Stimulus control techniques
- Counter conditioning
- Contingency management
- Naturally occurring reinforcers
Examples of stimulus control techniques for overeating
Keep ‘danger’ foods out of the house
Avoid keeping biscuits in the same cupboard as tea & coffee
Eat only at the dining table
Use small plates
Do not watch TV at the same time as eating.
What is counter conditioning
Identify ‘high-risk’ situations/cues (eg stress) and ‘healthier’ responses
e.g. yoga/books
Examples of contingency management
Involve significant others to praise healthy eating choices
Plan specific rewards for successful weight loss
Vouchers for adherence to healthy eating & weight loss.
Examples of naturally occurring reinforcers
Improved self-esteem (positive reinforcement).
Reduction in symptoms of breathlessness (negative reinforcement).
Evidence for incentives to change health behaviour
Five year review – incentives used in smoking cessation schemes were most effective those aimed at weight loss were the least effective.
Limitations of reinforcement programmes
Lack of generalization (only affects behaviour regarding the specific trait that is being rewarded).
Poor maintenance (rapid extinction of the desired behaviour once the reinforcer disappears)
Impractical and expensive.
Does fear work to change behaviour
Evidence suggests no
Outline social learning influence on smoking
Significantly hiher chance of becoming occasional and regular smoker if you live with any number os smokers
Peer influence of adolescent smolking
Substantial peer group homogeneity with respect to adolescent smoking.
Best friends have the greatest influence on adolescent smoking, followed by peer groups.
What is the expectancy-value principle
The potential for a behaviour to occur in any specific situation is a function of the expectancy that the behaviour will lead to a particular outcome and the value of that outcome”
Outline the health beliefs model
For behaviour change, individual must perceive a threat to health
This is influenced by their perceived susceptibility and their perceived seriousness
Cues to action also affect perceived threat (i.e. if a celeb dies of cancer then screening for it may increase)
Background variables such as knowledge, age, sex also influence perceived threat….
What is the likelihood of behavioural change affected by in the health beliefs model
Perceived threat and
Perceived Benefits Vs
Perceived Costs/barriers
Define susceptibility, seriousness, benefits, cost/benefits and cues
Susceptibility – “A lot of people I know have got flu symptoms”
Seriousness – “It’s not something to really worry about”
Benefits – “The vaccination will stop me getting sick”
Costs/barriers - “The injection will be painful and it might make me ill for a while”
Cues – Doctor strongly advises to have it.
