Health beliefs and behaviour Flashcards
In the 1900s what was the major cause of death and how has this changed?
Why?
Infectious disease, now cancer is one of our biggest killers
- change in environment, access to medication and us living longer
What is the number one cause of preventable illness and death?
smoking
What is the prevalence of smokers in the UK?
19% of adults
On average how many years earlier do smokers die?
10 years
What is the prevalence of overweight/obese men and women?
7/10 men
6/10 women
What can contribute to weight?
- genetic predisposition
- medical conditions
- food consumption increasing (social eating) so increased calorie intake
- activity levels
- environment
Why are we eating more calories?
- easy to access
- advertising
- social factors
What is auto-dependency and how may it contribute to obesity?
Inability to do general things without the access of a vehicle - obesity falls with walking, cycling etc.
What are the 5 modern day killers?
dietary excess, alcohol consumption, lack of exercise, smoking and unsafe sexual behaviour
What is health behaviour?
Any activity undertaken by an individual believing himself to be healthy, for the purpose of preventing disease or detecting it at an asymptomatic stage.
Describe the Alameda study
- 6,928 residents of Alameda county, CA, completed a list of 7 health behaviours they practised regularly
- This included not smoking, eating breakfast, not snacking, regular exercise, getting 7-8 hours of sleep, moderate alcohol, and maintaining moderate weight
- At 10 year follow-up showed that the mortality rate in individuals who practiced all seven behaviours was less than 1/4 of that in individuals who practiced three or less
How can we help people to adopt health behaviours?
3 levels:
- POPULATION LEVEL (e.g. NHS nationwide programmes for specific populations, e.g. cervical)
- COMMUNITY LEVEL (e.g. weight-loss programme offered in a London borough)
- INDIVIDUAL LEVEL (e.g. direct implementation of intervention with a patient)
How has health education changed?
- Earlier health campaigns focused on negative emotions (guilt, shame and embarrassment) which doesn’t work
- Campaigns now focus on positive emotions (confidence, positivity, lack of judgement)
What was the smoking programme?
- A programme of education about the effects of smoking was conducted in 39 comprehensive schools
- The programme involved specially trained teachers providing teaching sessions spread over 3 months
Is education important in changing health behaviours?
When is it most effective?
- Information does have an important role and is most effective for discrete behaviours (e.g. vaccination)
- Messages tailored to a particular audience are more effective (e.g. complete abstinence vs. condom use to reduce teenage pregnancy)
- But often people need more than knowledge to change habitual lifestyle behaviours, particularly addictive behaviours (e.g. social & psychological support, skills to change)