HaDSoc Week 4 Flashcards
What is meant by lay beliefs?
Beliefs about health and illness
Held by non-professionals (no specialist knowledge)
Some are sensible and reasonable while others have little basis in evidence or reality
Doesnt necessarily prevent them being widely held
Socially embedded
Complex - drawn from many different sources
Not just a watered down version of medical knowledge - cant solve by giving lots of information
What do lay beliefs affect in terms of clinical practice?
Definitions of health and illness vary between different individuals
Gaps between lay and medical concepts
Impacts behaviour - e.g. Adherence
Language used by people - might have a different understanding of the words
Give some different perceptions of health
Negative definition - absence of illness - as long as no symptoms, youre healthy - lower socioeconomic group
Functional definition - ability to do certain things - if you can get on with these things youre healthy - elderly
Positive definition - state of wellbeing and fitness - higher socioeconomic groups
Describe lay theories about health and illness
Complex and sophisticated
Draw on cultural, social and personal knowledge and experience
And on own biography
What impact can lay theories have on clinical practice?
Medical information can be rejected if it is incompatible with competing ideas for which the individual considers there is good evidence
E.g. Inheritance of a disease
Reinterpreted what you say to fit in with what they know and understand
How do lay understandings develop?
Interplay between lay and medical beliefs
Professional concepts are interpreted and made sense of in light of everyday experience
Sometimes professionals change the way that they start to talk to people, the way they explain things and understand things (if working in complicated sector)
Define health behaviour
Activity undertaken for purpose of maintaining health and preventing illness
How do lay beliefs effect health behaviour?
Example - smoking more prevalent among lower socioeconomic groups
Higher social class - more positive definition of health - incentive to give up - expect to remain healthy - able to focus on long term investments - rational to give up
Lower social class - more negative definition of health - incentives less clear - focus on improving immediate environment - smoking a coping mechanism, normalised behaviour - rational to continue smoking
Define illness behaviour
Activity of an ill person to define an illness and seek a solution
How do lay beliefs affect illness behaviour?
Almost half of all symptoms respondents did nothing
35% of symptoms resulted in OTC meds etc.
12% of symptoms resulted in primary care visit
Most symptoms never get to a doctor - symptom or illness iceberg
What influences illness behaviour?
Culture - stoic (being hard) Visibility or salience of symptoms Extent to which disrupt life Frequency and persistence Tolerance Information and understanding Availability of resources Lay referral
Do we want everyone to come to the doctor when they get any kind of symptoms?
No
DH support self care
NHS would COLLAPSE :o
Get right symptoms to the doctor at the right time
What is a lay referral?
3/4 of those visiting a doctor have discussed their symptoms with another person
Lay referral system - chain of advice-seeking contacts which the sick make with other lay people prior to – or instead of – seeking help
from health care professionals - can be a prompt or barrier to seeking help
Is the patient in front of you being influenced negatively from coming to see the doctor when they really need to?
Why is the concept of lay referral important?
Helps you to understand:
• Why people might have delayed in seeking help
• How, why and when people consult a doctor
• Your role as a doctor in their health (e.g. Last resort )
• Use of health services and medication
• Use of alternative medicines (what else are they using, where are they getting the info about this from?)
What is a key factor in influencing how quickly medical advice is sought?
Symptom evaluation - e.g. Is this bad enough to go see a doctor? Have i had it that long? Is it just after effect of working too hard etc?
- Typical candidate in head e.g. Smoking, obese, drinking, old
- Typical condition e.g. Heart attack –> sudden, death
If doesnt fit with own perception find hard to recognise
Prompting to seek help sooner than otherwise would - technique used in health promotion