Health Beliefs and Behaviour

Question 1

Define health behaviour.

Answer 1

Any activity undertaken by an individual believing himself to be healthy, for the purpose of preventing disease or detecting it at an asymptomatic stage

Question 2

Describe the effect of education on health behaviour.

Answer 2

Education is effective on its own at changing discrete health behaviours e.g. getting a child vaccinated However, it is not effective on its own for more complex health behaviours It needs to be combined with individualised support, as well as economic, environmental and regulatory support

Question 3

Describe a study that showed the effect of education on health behaviour.

Answer 3

Nutbeam study on the effect of smoking education in schools
Smoking education showed that it increased knowledge but had no effect on behaviour (smoking)

Question 4

What is the Expectancy-Value model?

Answer 4

Potential for behaviour to occur is to do with:
EXPECTANCY that the behaviour will lead to a particular outcome and the
VALUE of that outcome

Question 5

Describe the results of an experiment that looked into the effect of fear arousal on health behaviours.

Answer 5

Fear arousal experiment in dental health – participants were exposed to either low, moderate or high fear with regards to dental health
Result: the higher the level of fear, the lower the change in behaviour

Question 6

What is self-efficacy?

Answer 6

Belief that one can execute the behaviour required to produce the outcome

Question 7

What are the four sources of self-efficacy?

Answer 7

Mastery experience
Social learning
Verbal persuasion and encouragement
Physiological arousa

Question 8

Draw the health beliefs model

Answer 8

Health Belief model

Question 9

Draw the theory of planned behaviour model.

Answer 9

Planned behaviour model

Question 10

What are the stages of the transtheoretical model?

Answer 10

PCDARM 
Precontemplation 
Contemplation 
Determination 
Action  
Relapse  
Maintenance  
NOTE: you can enter and leave at any stage

-behaviour may often go around the cycle a few times before the individual permanently exits the cycle and thus the unwanted behaviour

Question 11

What is outcome efficacy?

Answer 11

individual expectation that behaviour will lead to the outcome

Question 12

What is the number 1 cause of preventable illness and death?

Answer 12

smoking

Question 13

What percentage of adults in the UK smoke?

Answer 13

19%

Question 14

What proportion of men and women in the UK are overweight?

Answer 14

7/10 men and 6/10 women

Question 15

What are the five modern day killers?

Answer 15

1. Dietary excess
2. Alcohol
3. Lack of exercise
4. Smoking
5. Unsafe sexual behaviour

Question 16

List some cues for unhealthy eating

Answer 16

1. Visual
2. Auditory
3. Olfactory
4. Location
5. Time
6. Emotion

Question 17

Describe positive reinforcement in eating habits

Answer 17

Positive reinforcement- dopamine, boredom

• delayed positive reinforcement for healthy eating as effects take too long to have an effect
• efforts at dietary change go unnoticed by others so no reinforcement here

Question 18

Describe negative reinforcement in eating habits

Answer 18

Avoiding painful emotions by comfort eating

Question 19

List some behaviour modification techniques

Answer 19

1. Stimulus control techniques e.g no danger foods
2. Counter conditioning egg identify high risk situations like stress and make healthier responses
3. Contingency management- encourage partners to praise healthy eating
4. Naturally recurring reinforcers- increased self esteem

Question 20

Give some limitations in reinforcement programmes

Answer 20

1. Lack of stimulus generalisation- only behaviour affected was regarding the specific trait being rewarded
2. Poor maintenance- rapid extinction of behaviour once primary reinforcer disappeared
3. Impractical and expensive

Question 21

Describe social learning

Answer 21

• studies show friends had a strong affect on altering behaviour

1. adolescents are particularly susceptible
2. best friends have greatest influence
3. training to avoid peer pressure into smoking had a significant reduction in new number of smokers

Question 22

List some approaches to changing health behaviour in a patient

Answer 22

1. Listen/validate experiences
2. Remedy gaps in knowledge
3. Modify unhelpful beliefs
4. Identify barriers to change
5. Encourage social support
6. Enhance self-efficacy
7. Identify good role models