HaDSoc Session 4 Flashcards
What are lay beliefs based on?
What happens to those around a person and themselves over their life course e.g. things they’ve read, TV, culture, social norm
Why do lay beliefs have to be considered?
Potential gaps between lay and medical concepts so same terms used have difference in understanding; impact on behaviour; impact on compliance
What is the negative definition perception of health?
Health equates to the absence of illness
In which group is a negative definition perception of health more commonly seen?
Lower SES
What is the functional definition of health perception?
Health is the ability to do certain things
What group of the population commonly uses a functional definition of health perception?
Elderly
What is the positive definition of health perception?
Health is a state of wellbeing and fitness that can be worked towards and maintained
Which population group more commonly uses a positive definition of health perception?
Higher SES
What might happen if medical information is incompatible with competing ideas for which people believe there is good evidence?
Info rejected or synthesis of new knowledge may be altered to fit but then it does not quite correlate with original information
What factors impact a person’s wider social and cultural perceptions of health?
How much control they think they can assert over their health, how much control they can assert on everyday life
What is candidacy in lay beliefs of health?
Identify risk factors for a disease depending on personal, familial and social sources of knowledge
What does the ‘Uncle Norman’ explanation in lay epidemiology explain?
Find exceptions to candidacy leading to a reliance on randomness and fate
Why is there a general reluctance to accept an explanation for illness that rests on personal behaviours?
Easier to believe it is out of your control
What is a positive health behaviour?
Activity undertaken for the purpose of maintaining health and preventing illness
How does the positive definition of health explain why higher SES have lower rates of smoking?
Incentives more evident for those who can expect to stay fit and healthy so quitting is a rational choice
How does the negative perception of health explain why smoking rates are higher in lower SES?
Incentives to quit less clear and focus on improving immediate environment and engaging in normalised behaviour so smoking is rational
What is illness behaviour?
Activity of an ill person to define illness and seek solution
What is the symptom/illness iceberg?
Explanation that most symptoms never get to a doctor as 50% of people with a symptom will not seek advice
What factors lead to the development of the illness iceberg?
Stoical culture, visibility/salience of S/S, disruption to life, ref quench and persistence of symptoms, lay-referral, availability of resources, information and resources, tolerance threshold
What is sick role behaviour?
Formal response to symptoms that includes seeking formal help and action of a person as a pt
What is lay referral?
Chain of advice seeking contacts sick people make with other lay people prior to OR INSTEAD of seeking help
What inhibits help-seeking in lay referral?
Powerful social sanctioning of hypochondriac behaviours
What do people base the choice of when to seek medical advice on?
Symptom experience, symptom evaluation, knowledge of disease and Tx, experience of and attitudes towards HCPs
What are lay beliefs?
How people understand and make sense of health and illness without specialised knowledge
What symptom experience leads to early presentation?
Significant and rapid onset
Why do insidious onset symptoms lead to delayed presentations?
Pt develops explanations for S/S with previous activities until this becomes inadequate