Session 9 - Behaviour Related To Disease, Illness And Health

Question 1

What is health behaviour?

Answer 1

Any activity aimed at maintaining or improving health.

Question 2

What is well behaviour?

Answer 2

Activities people undertake to maintain or improve current good health and to avoid illness.

Question 3

What is symptom-based behaviour?

Answer 3

Activities people who are ill undertake to determine the problem and find a remedy. It focuses on the experience of physical symptoms.

Question 4

What is Sick-role behaviour?

Answer 4

Activities people undertake to get well after they have decided that they are ill and what the illness is. It does not focus on symptoms and depends largely on prior learning and cultural factors.

Question 5

How do Health and Behaviour correlate?

Answer 5

1. Serious health problems can be predisposed, initiated, sustained or exacerbated by the behaviour of people.
2. People’s health-related behaviour influences their likelihood of developing chronic diseases.

Question 6

What is primary prevention in health psychology?

Answer 6

Actions taken to avoid disease or injury

Question 7

List 4 well behaviours related to primary prevention.

Answer 7

1. Using safety belts
2. Exercising
3. Receiving immunisations
4. Following a dental hygiene routine

Question 8

What is secondary prevention in health psychology?

Answer 8

The early identification and treatment of illness or injury with the aim of stopping or reversing the problem.

Question 9

What are some well behaviours related to secondary prevention?

Answer 9

These include routine periodic health screenings.

Question 10

What are some symptom-based behaviours related to secondary prevention?

Answer 10

This might include consulting a medical professional when a symptom is experienced and obtaining the practitioner’s prescription to treat the condition.

Question 11

Name a sick-role behaviour related to secondary prevention.

Answer 11

Following the doctor’s prescriptions regarding treatment and lifestyle changes

Question 12

What is tertiary prevention in health psychology?

Answer 12

Actions to contain or retard the lasting or irreversible damage and rehabilitate the person once serious injury has occurred or a disease has progressed beyond the early stages.

Question 13

Name a symptom-based behaviour related to tertiary prevention.

Answer 13

Taking chronic medication to address symptoms

Question 14

Name a sick-role behaviour related to tertiary prevention.

Answer 14

Taking part in physical therapy to regain the use of limbs after an injury

Question 15

Name 5 common health-risk behaviours.

Answer 15

1. Substance-related
2. Dietary
3. Exercise-related
4. Sexual
5. Safety-related

Question 16

Name the 5 intrapersonal factors that serve as obstacles in the modification of health risk behaviour.

Answer 16

1. Appeal
2. Habitual and addictive behaviours
3. Cognitive resources
4. Self-efficacy
5. Effects of illness

Question 17

Name and explain the 2 interpersonal factors that serve as obstacles in the modification of health risk behaviour.

Answer 17

1. Model - an absence of friends or family who model the healthy behaviour the person is trying to adopt would make lasting change more difficult
2. Support - an absence of support and encouragement for attempts to change their lifestyle might lead to interpersonal conflict and undermine prevention efforts.

Question 18

Name and explain the community factors that serve as obstacles in the modification of health risk behaviour.

Answer 18

1. Focus on treatment - some healthcare systems may focus more on the treatment of disease than the prevention thereof
2. Resource allocation - insufficient funding for public health projects or research, the under-servicing of sociocultural or age groups and the difficulties in balancing economic and public health priorities , place communities at a disadvantage regarding the promotion of health behaviour.