Final form Intervention Essays Flashcards
Social Capital:
Creating positive feelings of unification, friendliness, and comfortability within a community. Social Capital acts as a mediator between the social determinants of health and the health of the community. It can increase the overall health of a community to a level that exceeds expectations set by their community’s social determinants.
Example: A community has many gas stations that advertise smoking tobacco. The community is worried about their youth using tobacco products so they work together to create an after school program that will engage the kids in more wholesome recreational activities.
Social Determinants of Health:
The social gradient determines the health gradient within a community or society. Social determinants are factors within a community that cause or prevent the causes of disease and death. The relative income of our community compared to others in the area will determine the quality of life and the prevalence of disease causing factors.
Example: A man has little education because of his socioeconomic status this forces him to get a lower paying lower quality job that causes constant stress in his life. This chronic stress leads to addictive behaviors and eventually disease that lowers his quality of life.
Behavioral Ecological Model:
A more in depth focus on the ecological model that explains and utilizes the levels of influence and how they can influence one another bidirectionally. It emphasizes how one level may indirectly affect another through the strategy of utilizing a level more applicable and consistently influential to the impact of individuals. Through this model change is made more possible and probable than through any model that only focuses on influencing the individual.
Ecological Model:
A health behavior change model that focuses on an individual’s relationship with their environment and how that environment encourages or inhibits health behaviors. This model acknowledges the importance of constructs that target an individual’s desire and motivation to change, but emphasizes that the environmental factors surrounding that individual make the change possible or impossible depending on their quality, accessibility, and proximity. It includes five levels of an individual’s environment that contribute to their ability and desire to participate in healthy behavior change.
Ecological model: Why Each Level is Relevant and Important to Behavior Change
Intrapersonal
Why: Adolescents who learn about the health effects and dangers of vaping, are educated on other coping mechanisms, and who gain the confidence they need to quit will be motivated to make the desired behavior change.
Interpersonal
Why: The influence of peers and family is fundamental at this point in a human’s life. A supporting group of trusted or admired individuals can make a big difference on an individual’s motivation and self efficacy for change. Educating peers and family members on how to encourage this behavior change will be vital to the success of the intervention.
Organizational:
Why: Accessibility, proximity, and quality of factors in their environment that have influence on this unhealthy habit and on creating new healthy habits will allow a motivated individual the opportunity to succeed in their desired behavior change.
Community:
Why: The culture of the community towards health behaviors will influence the organizational factors available to those trying to make a behavior change by motivating policy makers of the importance and demand for facilities and all environmental factors that make getting rid of this youthful addiction more simple and possible.
Policy:
Why: Policy makes restrictions and actions that can heavily influence the setting for behavior change and therefore the success of the behavior change itself. In this intervention proximity and promotion or vape products will be elements of the environment that policy can have a huge effect on and that will make a big difference in each individual’s ability to choose and sustain their behavior change.
Health Belief Model:
A theory of health behavior change based on an individual’s perception. The focused perceptions include their susceptibility to disease or harm, the severity of the disease or harm, the capacity of a behavior to prevent disease or harm, and their own capability to overcome barriers and successfully perform a certain health behavior. This model targets the beliefs that a person holds about why, how, and if they should change their health behavior. It is used to see where the gap of information, education, and assistance lies in the behavior change process so the problem can be efficiently resolved.
Applied Behavior Analysis:
The process of learning about or proving that a specific method is effective for helping individuals complete a desired behavior change. During the process of experimentation the relationship between methods and resulting behaviors are carefully analyzed. This process also deliberately examines the concepts behind observed methods of behavior change to repurpose them in changing or introducing other behaviors of related functions.
Applied Behavior Analysis: Why positive Reinforcement is important:
Positive reinforcement is important because it creates a clear and immediate motivation for the participation in a certain behavior. It can be scaled to fit the difficulty of the behavior to be completed and still remain positive creating discipline in and enjoyment of the process of learning a new behavior.
It creates a positive relationship between the individual or interventional process encouraging a behavior change which is vital for a person to have an open mind towards the behavior change and trust in the process by which it is completed. It makes them more likely to want to participate in trying to change their behavior.
Healthy behavior changes always have a natural reinforcement that eventually becomes apparent. An artificial positive reinforcement can bridge the gap between beginning the behavior and enjoying the results creating a constant flow of motivation to allow the habit to take root. Once this habit reveals its natural reinforcers the artificial reinforcement is no longer needed. The subject is now independent in their new habit and the intervention is not required to give endless reinforcement to maintain their habit for them.
Positive reinforcement instead of negative motivates people to turn their heads towards the path of change because it has enticing rewards. Punishment turns people away because the naturally present fear of failure is intensified by a contingent threat.
Transtheoretical Model:
A model of behavior change revolving around the stage of change an individual is at and how to best target their progression from that stage. It is a more focused and efficient approach that recognizes the process a person must go through to be ready to make and to make and maintain a behavior change. This model includes processes that encourage an individual’s development through the many stages of behavioral change.
Trans theoretical Model: Processes of Change
Consciousness Raising: Making a population aware of the realities of a certain behavior and the risks and consequences that accompany it.
Dramatic Relief: An intervening tactic used to create an emotion attached to a certain behavior that will deter individuals from wanting to participate in it.
Self-reevaluation: Helping an individual understand how their unhealthy behavior is affecting them specifically.
Environmental Reevaluation: Educating an individual on how their unhealthy behavior is negatively affecting the people around them.
Counter Conditioning: Becoming educated on healthy coping mechanisms to increase resilience against triggers that encourage returning to an unhealthy habit.
Contingency/Reinforcement Management: Informing an individual of the consequences associated with reverting to an unhealthy behavior and placing reinforcements in their future life that are available only if they maintain their behavior change.
Stimulus Control: Learning to remove or change stimuli in an individual’s life that reinforce bad behavior and make maintaining a good health behavior more difficult.
Theory of Planned Behavior:
The theory that a person’s intentions to do a certain behavior are reflected in their actions of doing or not doing that behavior. Our intentions are affected by our attitudes towards the behavior, the influence of others on our behavioral decisions, and our perceived ability to complete a certain behavior despite obstacles. When we focus on intervening with intention development instead of the outcome development, the behavior change is more profound and permanent.
Social Cognitive Theory:
The idea that your behavior is based on observational learning and the influence of others. An important part of this is the way you perceive or interpret these influences in the setting of behavior change. This theory is based on the reality of internal and external influences on our behaviors
The Triadic Model: A visual triangular diagram used to display the idea that our behavior, individualities, and environmental influences all influence each other and contribute to the efficacy of a behavior change intervention.
Example: A young woman is extremely obese. She believes diet culture is an unhealthy solution, and she should eat what her body tells her it wants. Her current eating habits revolve around fat based calories, and she is living at home with her family who have similar views and health issues. Addressing her distaste for diet culture, her home environment, and her current eating habits are all vital to helping her reach her goal of losing weight and feeling healthier. Without addressing each corner of her triangle, the intervention is weak and makes it harder for her to change.
Self Efficacy
- The belief we have in our capability to accomplish a certain behavior
Types of Social Capital:
Bridging: Connecting people in the community with varied interests, beliefs, opinions, etc. in order to bring the population together for the health and good of everyone.
Example: A community makes an effort to hold weekly service activities in the park to bring the whole community together in fun and service. This way everyone can interact and become familiar while they work together for a common goal.
Bonding: Connecting people in the community within their groups of interests, religions, political ideas, etc. Creating social and physical spaces for people to come together and enjoy, entertain, worship, learn, and connect.
Example: A library in a community offers up its meeting spaces for free to community clubs of varied interests. This allows more people to gather and participate in these groups where friendship and connections within the community are made.
Social Determinants of Health: Determinants
- The Social Gradient: Socioeconomic status coincides with risk of death and disease. Low income populations are at greater risk and their health disadvantages accumulate over time.
Example: A boy has grown up in a house in which mold is growing because it was a cheaper living option, and his father has a low income job. This living situation eventually led him to contract chronic pneumonia. - Stress: Chronic stress caused by many factors of life especially in low income households can put individuals at greater risk for disease.
Example: A single mother works long hours trying to provide for her two children. She is constantly stressed about not being with her children enough or earning enough money for them to be healthy and happy. - Early Life: Unhealthy conditions during a child’s early life can cause lasting problems and problem causing habits.
Example: Tom grew up entertaining himself through television and was very inactive for the first seven years of his life. Because of this his metabolism is slowed and he is at greater risk for type 2 diabetes. - Social Exclusion: Community attitude, culture or policy that excludes certain groups or traits from normal participation in society. This can cause many health issues but especially chronic stress.
Example: Erica just moved to South Carolina from Argentina and wants to participate in new motherhood classes in her community, but she is afraid her native accent will make her hard to understand and exclude her from other mothers participating within her community. - Work: The work situation at which an individual spends hours each day can heavily affect their health. Autonomy, low risk/high quality working conditions, and a stable employment situation can make the work environment a safer place that does not put employees at risk for disease or death.
Example: Karla works in a factory where they make insulation because it is the only job she could find that requires no education. She is worried the fiberglass from this insulation will be inhaled into her lungs and cause problems with her health. - Unemployment: Losing your job and searching for a new one comes with financial and mental stresses that can lead to disease and death.
Example: Amelio lost his job a year ago and the market is really tough right now. He is stressed about his situation and his ability to find financial stability again. - Social Support: Strong social support systems can help relieve chronic stress and assist an individual mentally, emotionally, and financially. Without a support system of friends and family, stress is likely to increase to unhealthy levels and put individuals at risk for disease.
Example: Tina loses her house because she could not pay it off. Her mom invites her to stay in her home while she gets back on her feet. This relieves Tina’s stresses and puts her in close proximity to a loving family member that will help her work through her struggles. - Addiction: Community settings and socioeconomic status have a lot to do with the likelihood of an individual to develop addictive behavior. It can be used as a coping mechanism for chronic stress and result in many different kinds of disease including substance dependency itself.
Example: Forrest’s community has many access points to buy tobacco products. One day he is especially sad and decides to buy a pack of cigarettes. Smoking becomes a coping habit for Forrest and over time leads to lung cancer. - Food: Different communities provide access to different kinds of food to successfully cater to their socioeconomic demographic. Undernourishment is more common in low income communities and can lead to disease.
Example: A single father has no time to make dinner for his children so he buys them fast food each evening for dinner. They grow accustomed to this eating habit and are undernourished in important heart healthy nutrients. - Transportation: Good public transportation provides access to more job opportunities and provides opportunities for walking activity. Some individuals do not have access to a car or can not drive the distance to important health improving opportunities such as better jobs, gyms, etc.
Example: Cleo applied for a new job with higher income and better benefits on the other side of her city. She was chosen for the position, but her car is broken down and she has no money to fix it. Luckily her city offers cheap public transportation that allows her to take the job and improve her family’s quality of life.