(4) Lay Belief & Health Promotion

Question 1

What is Lay Belief?

Answer 1

A conclusion drawn from observation/experiences to answer questions in fields that the person has no expertise knowledge of

Question 2

What is Lay Epidemiology?

Answer 2

An epidemiology explained by Lay belief e.g. from observations/experience to answer unfamiliar situations that people have no expertise knowledge of

Question 3

What is Lay Referral?

Answer 3

A cycle of people refer others to seek help from other Lay people before/instead of medical professionals

Question 4

Why is it important for doctors to understand Lay Epidemiology (5)?

Answer 4

• Patients may reject to accept facts that they cannot understand or make sense of
• Lay beliefs may affect healthy/illness behaviours
• Knowing why and when patients seek help
• Knowing what patients may be expecting
• Aware of patients may seek alternative medicines
• Knowing the ways patients use health services and medications e.g. compliance/non-compliance

Question 5

Describe the categories people can be put into when they choose not to follow health prevention/treatment (3).

Answer 5

• Denier = “I don’t have asthma”
• Distancer = “I don’t have ‘proper’ asthma”
• Pragmatist = “I will take preventive medicine when the symptoms get worse”

Question 6

Describe the three types of health perception.

Answer 6

• Positive Definition: health = state of wellbeing
• Functional Definition: health = ability of performing a certain action
• Negative Definition: health = not ill

Question 7

Describe the three types of behaviour influencing health and illness.

Answer 7

• Health Behaviours = activities to maintain healthy and prevent illness
• Illness Behaviours = activities of ill person to define illness and seek help
• Seek Role Behaviours = activities respond to episodes of illness, including seeing doctors

Question 8

Describe the three types of health prevention strategies.

Answer 8

• Primary: minimise exposures to risk factors
• Secondary: detection and treatment at early stage
• Tertiary: minimise exaggeration of established disease

Question 9

Suggest some critics of health promotion (6).

Answer 9

• Victims blaming
• Unbalanced distribution of responsibilities
• Assuming giving knowledge = having ability to live healthily
• Health prevention may better effects to the public rather than the actual individual
• Ethics of interfering people’s choices
• Reinforce negative stereotypes

Question 10

What are the factors contribute to illness, from a global perspective (4)?

Answer 10

• Poverty
• Poor housing
• Poor health system
• Social exclusion

Question 11

What four things influence WHEN people choose to get medical help

Answer 11

• Symptom experience (bad vs ok)
• Symptoms evaluation (worsen vs better)
• Knowledge of disease/treatments (what symptoms should be experiencing)
• Experience and attitudes towards health professionals

Question 12

Why is it difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of health promotion (4)?

Answer 12

• Time consuming & expensive
• Many confounders
• Decay = effects may wear off quickly
• Delay = effects may take ages to be seen

Question 13

Why might individuals at higher socioeconomic position smoke less on average that those at lower position (3)?

Answer 13

• More able to focus on long term investments
• Can afford quitting products
• Other stress mechanisms