HaDSoc 4.1 lay beliefs Flashcards
What are lay beliefs?
- how people with no medical knowledge make sense of illness.
- not the same as a watered down medical knowlege
Why do we need to be aware of lay beliefs?
- there may be gaps between lay and medical concepts
- it can impact on adherance
- can impact on behaviour
- allows us to explore what health means to people
What are the different definitions of health?
Negative definition- health is the absence of illness
Functional definition- health is the ability to do certain things
positive definition- health is a state of welbeing and fitness
What are the links between different health definitions and socioeconomic status’?
Negative definition is often used by lower socioeconomic groups.
functional definition is often used by lower socioeconomical groups and the elderly.
Positive definition is often used by higher socioeconomic groups.
What are the 2 issues with lay beliefs and epidemiology?
- understanding of how and why illness happens
- understanding why it happens to a certain person at a certain time
What are some lay explainations as to why something shouldnt have happened to them?
For example, may have idea that MI’s should only happen to old, fat smokers, but a young female may have one and not be able to understand why.
May know someone who fits the criteria but who has lived a long healthy life
What is health behaviour?
Acitivty undertaken to maintain health and prevent illness
What is illness behavour?
The things a lay person does to try and understand their illness and eek solution.
What is sick role behaviour?`
A formal response to symptoms, which includes seeking help and acting as a patient.
What reasons could explain the trend for lower socioeconomic class’ to smoke more than higher groups?
Have a negative view of health, unless they are ill because of smoking, unlikely to give it up. in the moment, smoking used as a coping mechanism so is the rational choice.
Higher socioeconomic groups tend to have a positive definition of health so are more likely to want to maintain health and can focus more on the long term. Quitting smoking/never starting is the rational choice.
What is the illness iceberg?
only a small proportion of people who have symptoms will seek medical help, but there are many others who dont present to healthcare.
you only see the ‘tip of the iceberg’
What influences illness behaviour, and the actions of someone who has symptoms?
- severity of the symptoms
- culture (some groups very unlikely to seek healthcare unless problem is very serious)
- how evident the problem is (eg having a rash on face)
- how the problem affects life (minor hassle? preventing you from going to work? look after children?)
- lay referral
- tolerance threshold
- information and understanding (if you know it is something that can be treated? common thing? never heard of it before?)
What is lay referral?
The chain of advice seeking contacts an ill person makes to help them decide what to do next.
It may be prior to seeking help of healthcare professionals, or instead of.
What are the 2 outcomes of lay referral?
-others encouraging you to go to the doctors
‘that sounds serious, you should go see someone’
- others saying it’ll be fine
e. g. ‘my dad has that, he just takes paracetamol and it’s fine’
Why is lay referral important?
- helps explain why people might have delayed seeking help
- helps people decide where to present (GP? A&E)
- helps doctors understand where their role is (are they the first call? or the last resort?)
- helps to understand the use of alternative medicines
