Health beliefs and health behaviour

Question 1

What beliefs are thought to regulate someone’s health behaviour?

Answer 1

1) perceived threat of an illness
2) perceived susceptibility of the person to the disease
3) perceived benefits of performing the behaviour

Question 2

What is behaviour guided by?

Answer 2

one’s perception of the threat and possible outcomes of the diseases NOT the actual threat

Question 3

What influences a person’s health behaviour?

Answer 3

Risky health beahaviours and beliefs about medicine influence our health beliefs which subsequently influence our health behaviours. Our prior experience of medicine influences our beliefs about it.

Question 4

Define health behaviour:

Answer 4

Two types:

those that INCREASE risk and those the PROMOTE health

Question 5

What are some examples of good health behaviours?

Answer 5

Exercising
using sunscreen
protected sex
oral hygiene 
visiting the doctors 
diet- 5 a day

Question 6

What are some examples of bad health behaviours?

Answer 6

smoking
drinking
reckless driving
illicit drug use

Question 7

Why are health beliefs so important ?

Answer 7

because they drive our health behaviours

Question 8

What did Taylor demonstrate about the importance of modifying health behaviours in 1995?

Answer 8

1) reduces the number of deaths due to diseases related to lifestyle factors
2) increases longevity and average life expectancy
3) enhances quality of life - preventing or delaying onset of disease
4) reduces the amount of money spent on healthcare- costs of chronic diseases are huge

Question 9

What are the “differences” in health behaviours?

Answer 9

WITHIN-INDIVIDUAL VARIATION :why does an individual’s behaviour vary over time or across different settings - e.g. smoking in social situations

BETWEEN-INDIVIDUAL VARIATION: in particular health behaviours -e.g why do some people attend screening while others don’t

Question 10

How many people in England Wales die of avoidable causes?

Answer 10

1 in 4

• men are at greater risk than women
• also regional differences, with the highest being in north england

Question 11

What are the associated behaviours causing circulatory diseases?

Answer 11

smoking - active and passive 
poor diet 
excessive alcohol consumption 
lack of exercise 
lack of early detection 
poor adherence to treatment

Question 12

What are the associated behaviours causing malignant neoplasms?

Answer 12

smoking
poor diet- high fat, low fibre, high salt
excessive alcohol consumption
lack of exercise

Question 13

What are the associated behaviours causing respiratory diseases?

Answer 13

smoking
lack of early detection
poor diet

Question 14

What public health actions need to be carried out to reduce avoidable deaths?

Answer 14

encourage better behaviours

for treatable conditions, people need to make more aware of the signs and symptoms so early detection can take place

Question 15

What are the determinants of health behaviours?

Answer 15

Biological factors: e.g. addiction
psychological factors: depressed patients less likely to adhere to treatments
social and family factors
health status: if you have a respiratory disease you may find it harder to exercise
socio-demographic factors: age, sex, class, environment
health service provision: some countries are not as lucky as us to have access to the NHS
systems of provision and services: shops need to stock the right foods and access to spaces to carry out exercise
macroeconomics: buoyancy of the economy - need money to buy healthy foods
legislation: laws on age to buy alcohol and cigarettes, wearing seatbelts
cultural, national and religious factors- preparing food, engagement in sex, alcohol

Question 16

What is Rosenstocks 1966 health belief model (most widely used)?

Answer 16

A person’s readiness to take health action is determined by 4 main factors

1) perceived susceptibility of the disease/condition
2) perceived severity of the disease/condition
3) perceived benefit of taking the action
4) perceived barriers to performing the action

Question 17

What did Becker add to Rosenstocks health belief model?

Answer 17

• health motivation
• demographic variables
• psychosocial variables
• cues to action

Question 18

What other factors affect your health behaviour?

Answer 18

attitudes
personality traits
knowledge and beliefs
perceptions of risk 
attributions 
self-efficacy 
other sociological factors

Question 19

What do attitudes significantly influence behaviours and make them easy to predict?

Answer 19

when attitude are held strongly

Question 20

What influences persuasive communication ?

Answer 20

• sources of information - e.g. status and trustworthiness
• message itself - nature/level of emotional appeal (facts and figures)
• recipient - education, function of the attitudes, resistance to persuasion, latitude of acceptance
• situation or context (formal or informal)

Question 21

What are the 2 stages involved in modifying a health behaviour?

Answer 21

1) formation of an intention to change - this doesn’t mean you will actually change your behaviour
2) involves teaching people how to change and how to maintain this change

Question 22

What is the purpose of the public health model of motivating change?

Answer 22

designed to change a large group of peoples behaviours - generally targeted at people that engage in high-risk behaviours

Question 23

What are the ways do public health use change peoples behaviours?

Answer 23

persuasion e.g. if you smoke you stink
modification of relevant incentives - e.g. smoking damage the tissues in your penis
legislation - wearing seatbelt

Question 24

What is the locus of control ?

Answer 24

Locus of control is used to explain the differences in behaviour

• internal locus of control= belief that rewards and punishment in life are under direct personal control - increase likelihood of positive life adjustments in terms of chronic illness risk
• external locus of control = belief that positive or negative things that happen in one’s life are the result of luck or chance- tend to be more pessimistic/hopelessness in terms of chronically ill

Question 25

What methods could a doctor use to change a patients behaviour?

Answer 25

• provide information on consequences
• prompt barrier identification: identifying barriers to performing the behaviour and plan ways to overcome them - by identifying why a diet isn’t working you can find ways around it
• prompt self-monitoring of behaviour- use a diary as an incentive

Question 26

What are the predictors of non-adherence?

Answer 26

1) perceived barriers: appointments though as unpleasant, painful, inconvenient or too expensive
2) perceived susceptibility: preventative action not taken as people don’t regard themselves as being at risk
3) perceived benefits: patients often do not believe that taking action will help them
4) consequences: of non-compliant as something that will harm their health

Question 27

Why don’t patients adhere?

Answer 27

fear of side effects 
fear of dependency 
doesn't fit into lifestyle 
don't believe in the treatment 
forgetfulness 
too busy
feeling sick 
confusion about dosage

Question 28

How can we improve adherence?

Answer 28

• stress the importance of the treatment
• think about the first thing you say as this is the part that will be remembered
• repeat instructions and information
• the more they are told the higher chance they are to adhere
• give specific advice
• negotiate regimen that fits in with them
• encourage patient to take notes
• use simple words
• try to change / adapt patients health beliefs
• ensure the patient understand the rationale of the plan
• try to anticipate any barriers

Question 29

When is a patient likely to adhere to a treatment?

Answer 29

1) their health is important to them
2) they are susceptible to the disease and this would have serious implications
3) proposed action will be effective and docent have too many costs
4) others approve of the action and their approval is important to the person
5) they can successfully carry it out themselves