predicting and measuring health behaviours Flashcards
What is health behaviour?
behaviour performed by an individual, regardless of his/her percieved health status, with the purpose of protecting, promoting, or maintaining his/her health
What is the Health belief model?
this theory focuses on the percieved threat of the situation
so the liklihood that someone will take some preventitive action, depends on
- the percieved threat of a specific illness
- outcome expectation
What are the ‘set of beliefs’ that outline a patient’s percieved threat of an illness according to the health belief model?
- susceptibility to illness : like family history
- severity of illness : ‘my father couldn’t walk or speak after his stroke’
- benefits of health behaviours: ‘if I lose weight and exercise maybe I can reduce risk of stroke’
- cost of health behaviour: ‘ I hate dieting and exercise, and gyms are expensive’
- cues to action: ‘my mother has just been diagnosed with diabetes’
- health motivation: ‘I really need to do something to avoid getting a stroke when I’m older’
how can we use the health behaviour model in the clinic to help patients make healthy decisions?
- cue to action: “has anythign made you think about giving up smoking”?
- motivation: “how concerned are you about your health?”
- susceptibility and severity: “how do you think smoking is affecting your health?”
- percieved benefit/barrier: “what are the pros and cons of smoking for you?”
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the health behaviour model theory?
Strengths
- common sense constructs easy for non-psychologists to assimilate and apply
- has focused reasearch attention on modifiable predictors of behaviour
- makes testable predictions: large threats might be offset by large benefits etc.
limitations
- assumes people are rational
- neglects social factors
Wht is the theory of planned behaviour?
the immediate determinants of behaviour are the person’s intention to engage in that behaviour and the person’s perceptions of control over that behaviour
How can we use the theory of planned behaviour in clinic?
- teaching: explain health and economic value of quitting smoking to change attitude
- encouraging practice of preparatory behaviours: stop buying cigaretts, start saving the money to increase behavioural intention
- encouring belief in person’s own abilities: praise plans to quit smoking, reassure any doubts, to increase percieved behavioural control
- modeling behaviour: get a friend to quit smoking with you - encourages the subjective norm
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the thory of planned behaviour model?
Strengths
- identifies a number of cognitive variables which determine health behaviours (attitude, intention)
- highlights the importance of social factors driving behavioural intentions
weaknesses
- assumes patients are rational
- ignores the behaviour/intention gap
Describe the ‘stages of change’/’transtheoretical model’ of health behaviour
this theory is based on the concept that our beliefs change over time, it identifies 5 stages of change which an individual goes through when moving toward a change in behaviour
- precontemplation
- contemplation
- preparation
- action
- maintenance
*you can relapse and return to any stage, but you learn continuously from relapses*
how can we use the transtheoretical model of behaviour clinically to help a person quit a bad health habit?
we can treat the patient at whatever stage of change they may be at
- precontemplation- validate lack of readiness, clarify that the decision is theirs, encourage exploration not action, explain and personalise the risk
- contemplation - validate lack of readiness, encourage pro/cons list, identify and promote new, positive outcome expectations
- preparation - identify and assist in problem solving, help identify social support, verify underlying skills for behaviour change, encourage small initial steps, set a date
- action - focus on restructuring cues and social support, bolster self efficacy for dealing with obstacles, combat feelings of loss and reiterate the long term benefits
- maintenance - plan for follow-up support, reinforce internal rewards, discuss coping with relapse
- relapse - evaluate the trigger, focus on the success, encourage to re-engage efforts
what are the strengths and weaknesses of the transtheoretical model of health behaviours?
strengths
- facilitates design/taliloring of interventions to match an individual’s stage of change
- recognises the difficulties inherent in behaviour change and allows person to fail
weaknesses
- again assumes rational thinking
- does not address social context of behaviour
Describe the ‘behaviour change wheel” model of health
this model identifies behaviour as an interacting system invovling the components of capability (physical or psychological) , opportunity (physical or social acceptance) , and motivation (conscious planning, or emotions/impulses that arise)
How can we use the behaviour change wheel theory in the clinic?
- maximise capability of regulating own behaviour
- maximise opportunity to support self-regulation
- increase motivation to engage in desired behaviour - reward change and develop appropriate beliefts
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the behaviour change wheel theory?
strengths
- comprehensive approach
- prompts consideration of the full range of options
- provides a basis for analysing behaviour in context to select an appropriate mix of options
- takes account of environmental as well as intra-individual changes that may be needed
limitations
- limited research in this at the present
describe the main components of the health belief model and give an example of how it could be used to change a specific health behaviour
… percieved …
susceptibility
severity
benefits
barriers
cues to action
health motivation