health beliefs

block three week 1 socpop

lay health beliefs

• beliefs are things we believe to be true

• perspectives of ordinary people

• often complex and sophisticated

• may be sensible or irrational

lay health belief example

• a person believing they’re not at risk of heart disease because they’re thin

• antibiotics will help cold symptoms

where health beliefs come from

• rooted in socio-cultural contexts in which we live

• shaped by people’s

  • place in society

  • culture

  • personal biography

  • social identity

• can be informed by medical and health knowledge or can contradict it

culture

• values, norms and traditions that affect how individuals of a particular group perceive, think, interact and behave and make judgements about their world

importance of culture

• shapes the way we think, feel and experience our lives

• we all have multiple cultures

why lay health beliefs are importance to doctors

• insight into needs of your pts

  • info and support

• influence health seeking behaviour

  • how people respond to symptoms

  • decisions about consulting

  • expectations about treatment

  • concordance with treatment plans

• therefore important to explore your pts health beliefs in order to understand, assess and provide appropriate care and treatment

why people decide to consult a doctor

• perception of symptoms

• explanation of symptoms

• evaluation of symptoms

health beliefs and behaviours: predicting COVID 19 vaccine hesitancy

• gender was most common influence on health behaviour- followed by education, age, geographical location, occupation, income

• other factors: COVID knowledge, prior COVID diagnosis, flu vaccination history

health behaviours defined

• behaviours relayed to the health status of the individual

• good health behaviours: sleeping (7-8 hours), regular exercise, healthy eating, breakfast

• health protective behaviors: wearing a seatbelt, regular health checkups, health screening

• health impairing habits: smoking, high fat diet, alcohol abuse

dual pathway model

• 2 broad ways in which psychological processes may influence physical health

bio-psycho-social model

determinants of health behaviour

• background factors: characteristics that define the context in which people live their lives

• stable factors: individual differences (personality) in psychological activity that are stable over time and context

• social factors: social connections in the immediate environment

• situational factors: appraisal of personal relevance that shape responses in a specific situation

stable factors

• e.g individual differences, personality

• refer to variations between people in psychological activities that produce repsonses stable across time and context

stable factors influence appraisal in 3 keyways

1. determine if an event is salient (e.g sensitivity towards particular types of event)

2. provide a generalised framework for understanding and evalutating the event (e.g as threat or challenge)

3. make available or suggest potential responses (e.g intitial response options)

individual differences and health

• 3 broad types of individual differents

  1. emotional dispositions (psychological processes involved in both the experience and expression)

  2. generalised expectancies (psychological processes involved in formulating expectations in relation to future outcomes)

  3. explanatory styles (psychological processes involved in explaining causes of -ve events)

5 personality traits: emotional dispositions (OCEAN)

• Openness to new experiences

• Conscientiousness

• Extroversion

• Agreeableness

• Neuroticism

Openness to new experiences

• Intellect and interest in culture; artistic, curious, imaginative, wide range of interest.

Conscientiousness

• The will to achieve; self disciplined, efficient, organised, reliable, thorough.

Extroversion

• Outgoing; talkative, enthusiastic, seeking excitement, assertive and active.

Agreeableness

Loving, friendly and compliant; sympathetic, appreciative, trusting, kind, forgiving, generous.

Neuroticism

Experience more negative emotions; anxious, tense, worried, hostile, self-pitying, vulnerable.

Generalised Expectancies

• locus of control: expectations that future outcomes will be determined by factors that are either internal (self) or external (powerful others and chance)

• internal locus of control is generally associated with more favourable outcomes and performance of health behaviours but is dependent on situational factors

people with internal locus of control believe:

• they are responsible for their own health

• illness can be avoided by taking care of themselves

• ill health results in part from not eating correctly or not getting enough exercise

self efficacy

• belief in one’s own ability to organise and execute a course of action and the expectation that the action will result in, or lead to, a desired outcome

explanatory styles

• optimism

• attributional style

optimism (pessimism)

• expectation of a positive future outcome (however achieved) despite a current -ve event

• low levels of physiological reactivity in mild/moderate levels of stress and promotes active coping responses

• associated with better physical health, illness recovery and health behaviour performance

attributional style

• casual explanations of -ve events as internal (self), permanent (time) and global (situation)

social cognition theories

• attempt to explain the relationship between social cognitions (beliefs, attitudes, goals) and behaviour

• e.g:

  • Health Belief Model (Rosenstock, 1966)

  • Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1988)

  • Transtheoretical Model (1983)

Health Belief Model

Theory of Planned Behaviour

Stages of Change in Transtheoretical Model

Stages of Change

• precontemplation

• contemplation

• preparation

• action

• maintenance