Sick role

Question 1

The sick role

Answer 1

• Talcott Parsons
• 4 characteristics
  1. the sick person is freed or exempt from carrying out normal social roles. The more severe the more freedom
  2. People who are ‘sick’ are not directly responsible for their disease. They are not blamed or expected to take the blame and if one does self-blame then this is seen as odd behaviour
  3. The sick person must try to get well. Sick role is regarded as a temporary stage that should not be prolonged
  4. The sick person must seek competent help and cooperate with medical care to get well. The doctor is an agent of social control- restores people’ social roles

Question 2

Disease

Answer 2

• refers to actual pathology

- a process that results in illness

Question 3

Illness

Answer 3

• refers to personal experience

- a set of symptoms suffered by a patient

Question 4

Sickness

Answer 4

• refers to social consequences

- e.g absence from work

Question 5

Illness behaviour

Answer 5

• Mechanic and Volkdart
• refers to any behaviour undertaken by an individual who feels ill to relieve that experience or understand that experience

Question 6

Abnormal illness behaviour

Answer 6

• Pilowsky
• persistence of maladaptive mode of experiencing, perceiving, evaluating and responding to one’s own health status, despite the fact that a doctor has provided a diagnosis and management plan
• these can be exessive illness affirming )somatoform or malingering) or denying behaviours ( loss of insight in psychosis)

Question 7

Impairment

Answer 7

-interference with structural or psychological functions (parts of the whole person e.g loss of an arm)

Question 8

Disability

Answer 8

-interference with activities of the whole person in relation to the immediate environment (simply ADLs)

Question 9

Handicap

Answer 9

-social disadvantage resulting from disability (e.g loss of work and inability to drive)

Question 10

Health beliefs model

Answer 10

• patients have their own beliefs about their disease risks and treatment benefits
• these beliefs may be more influential than medically determined disease information
• factors affecting a patient’s treatment participation includes beliefs relating to severity/susceptibility, costs/benefits, cues to action

Question 11

Transtheoretical model

Answer 11

• Prochaska and DiClimente
• 5 common processes of change that apply to how individuals can be moticated to change their illness-related behaviours
  1. Conscious raising-helping the patient gather information about self and the problem
  2. Choosing- increasing awaremess of healthy alternatives
  3. Catharsis- emotional expression of the problem behaviour and the process of change
  4. Conditional stimuli- includes stimulus control and counterconditioning
  5. Contingency control- positive reinforcement from others and self-appraisal and improving self-efficacy by self-reinforcement

Question 12

6 stages of change of the TTM

Answer 12

• Prochaska and DiClemte
  1. precontemplation
  2. contemplation
  3. preparation
  4. action
  5. maintenance
  6. relapse
• these are cyclical
• each stage can move back and forth
• motivational interviewing uses TTM

Question 13

Stimulus control

Answer 13

avoidance of stimuli associated with the problem behaviour and the operant extinction cueing effect of the stimulus on behaviour

Question 14

Counterconditioning

Answer 14

Training an alternative, healthier response to the cue stimuli