Health_Studies

This report attempts to explain how behaviour impacts health with examples references and information obtained during the duration of the course. Health-related behavior is one of the most significant factorss in people's health and well-being. Its signifigance has grown just as medicine has advanced. Diseases which once were fatal or incurable can now be treated or prevented. health-related behavior has become an important attribute of public health. Therefore the improvements within health-related behaviors are central to public health activities. health related behaviour according to Kasl & Cobb (1966) healthy behaviour is an activity to prevent disease or detect it at an asymptomatic stage, illness behaviour is an activity undertaken by a person who feels ill and stick-role behaviour is an activity undertaken for the purpose of getting well. Health is the overall state of a person in all potentiality. It may be looked upon as a physical issue or as a continuum health can also be a level of functional and metabolic efficiency of an organism. In 1948 health was defined as a complete positive state of physical, mental and social well-being that varies overtime and merely not due to the absence of disease or infirmity. Health studies is a vital part of research and correlates with understanding many aspects of ones behaviour. the aims of health studies are to evaluate the function of behaviour, prognosticate unhealthy behaviours, encourage healthy behaviour and preclude illness. The Lalonde report produced in Canada by Minister of national Health and Welfare Marc Lalonde in 1974, suggests there are four crucial subdivisions of health including human biology, environment, lifestyle, and healthcare services therefore health is maintained and improved not only through the furtherance and postulation of health science but also through the attempts and intelligent lifestyle choices in which an individual chooses to make. Behaviourism is a theory which proposes that human behaviour is ascertained by conditioning rather than by thoughts or feelings, and that psychological disorders are best treated by altering behaviour patterns. Behaviour refers to the aggregate of all the outcomes created by an organism in any situation, usually in relation to the environment behaviour can be conscious or subconscious, visible or invisible, and willing or unwilling. Biology understands within a human, behaviour is restrained by the endocrine system and the nervous system. The complexity of the behaviour of an organism is related to the complexity of its nervous system. Generally organisms with complex nervous systems have a greater capacity to learn fresh responses and thus adjust their behaviour. Behaviours can either be innate or learned. More generally behaviour can be regarded as any action of an organism that changes its relationship to its environment Behaviour provides outputs from the organism to the environment Psychology realises that human behaviour can be common, unusual, acceptable, or unacceptable. Humans asses acceptability of behaviour using social norms and regulate behaviour by means of social control. In sociology, behaviour is considered as having no meaning, being not directed at other people and therefore is the most basic human action, although it can play a part in diagnosis of disorders such as autism; a disorder or neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behaviour. It is important to find a means of preventing an individuals behaviour from placing their health at risk. Traditional, mainstream health studies predominantly American aims to predict health and illness related behaviour through the development and testing of theories and to control, manage, or change such behaviour through the application of such theories. Three levels of prevention are existent within health primary which prevents disease, identifies causes and promotes health behaviours, then secondary prevention which catches disease, prevents further deterioration, and finally tertiary prevention which deals with rehab of patients and treatment interventions. Behavioral factors play a significant role in each of the twelve leading causes of death. It is said that Heart Disease, Cancers, Strokes, Accidents, Chronic Pulmonary Disease, Pneumonia & Influenza, Infectious & Parasitic Disease, Diabetes, Diseases of Arteries, Suicide, Homicide & Legal Intervention, Cirrhosis and Other Liver Diseases are known as the twelve causes of death | | The most common behavioral contributors to mortality, or death, in 1990 included the use of alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and motor vehicles; diet and activity patterns; sexual behavior; and illicit use of drugs. Behaviors such as these are thought to contribute to almost half of the deaths in the United States, and, according to J. McGinnis and W. Foege (1993), they were responsible for nearly 1 million deaths in the United States in the year of 1992 alone. The social and economic costs related to these behaviors can all be greatly reduced by changes in individuals' behaviors. ,.including chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and stroke, which are the major causes of death in the United States and other developed countries. However , Belloc & Breslow (1972) began series of studies which concluded that there are 7 factors of behaviours related to mortality which include sleeping 7-8hrs per day, having breakfast everyday, not smoking, rarely eating in between meals, being near or at prescribed weight, moderate or no alcohol, regular exercise. Failing to complete these behaviours can negatively affect the health of an individual. we perform health behaviours because of the many desirable outcomes. Health behaviour is determined by the less likelihood of illness the greater likelihood of longer life, the reduced amount of worry that may be possible for you and your family and a lesser burden on the NHS therefore, determinants of health behaviour include heredity, learning, social/environmental influences, emotional state, perception of symptoms of illness, interaction with health professionals, and cognitive factors. The most widely accepted theories about health behavior have been tested in research and found to be helpful in understanding or predicting health behaviors. Health behavior is, however, far too complex to be explained by a single, unified theory, and some professionals have devised models that draw on a number of theories to help understand a specific problem in a particular setting or context. One of the first behaviour change theory developed is the health belief model behaviour, originally developed to explain why people did or did not take advantage of preventive services such as disease screening and immunizations.. Health professionals realise while they are working to encourage healthy behaviours they are competing against powerful forces, involving social, psychological and environmental conditioning. According to this model changes in behaviour depend on five factors; perceived severity, perceived threat, perceived benefit, perceived barriers and self efficacy. Perceived severity is the belief that a health problem is serious, perceived threat is the belief that one is susceptible to the problem, perceived benefit is the belief that changing ones behaviour will reduce the threat, perceived barriers is a perception of the obstacles to changing ones behaviour and self efficacy is the belief that one has the ability to change ones behaviour The health belief model provides insights for why people make health decisions and creates a process for encouraging change. It is also useful in understanding how to design health education programs and persuasive messages.The model works well, especially for early detection or for some conditions, such as infectious diseases, that people may find frightening, especially if they are uncertain about the effects of treatment methods. When speaking of cognition the term thinking should come to mind. The social cognitive theory (Bandura 1977) is very complex and suggests that behaviour change is influenced by the environment , personal factors, and aspects of behaviour itself. The theory explains the education process through a number of constructs. The constructs which have applications in health education are reinforcement, behaviour capability, expectancies, self efficacy and reciprocal determinism. Reinforcements are consequences of behaviour, they can be negative or positive for example; rewards for positive behaviour and punishments for negative behaviour Behaviour capability refers to the ability to make adjustments with ones behaviour, in order for this one must identify the change they need to make, figure out what they need to do to make the change and how to do it. Expectancies are the values an individual places on a desired result. If the result is important to the person in question the behaviour change.that will yield the result is more than likely to happen. Self efficacy is an individuals self-belief within their ability to successfully change their behaviour Self efficacy is connected with another construct called outcome expectations. Theses are the benefits one expects to receive by changing ones behaviour Finally reciprocal determinism refers to the dynamic relationship between the individual their environment and how they are thought yo interact continuously. The point of the social cognitive theory when dealing with the impact of behaviour on health is as a health educator it allows you to understand the complex relationships between an individual and his or her environment, how actions, behaviours and conditions reinforce or discourage change, and the importance of believing in and knowing how to change. The social cognitive theory provides a foundation for several strategies for behavior change, for example the use of role models who carry out a behavior and achieve good results. A later extended version of The protection motivation theory (Rodgers, 1975) emphasises cognitive processes mediating behavioural change. This theory emerged as a result of the threat appraisal and the coping appraisal. Threat appraisal is the estimation of contracting a disease (vulnerability) and estimates of the seriousness of a disease (severity). Coping appraisal consists of response efficacy and self-efficacy. Response efficacy is the individuals expectancy that carrying out recommendations can remove the threat. Self efficacy is the belief in ones ability to execute the recommended courses of action successfully. Protection motivation is a mediating variable whose function is to arose , sustain, and direct protective health behaviour (Boer, Seydel, 1996). this theory can be used for influencing and predicting various behaviours. Off course this theory can be used in health-related behaviours. The main features of application to date are reducing alcohol use, enhancing healthy lifestyles, enhancing diagnostic health behaviours and preventing disease. Evidence suggests that engaging in health behaviours can increase longevity. The likelihood of undertaking a health behaviour is determined by several factors. One important determinant of health behaviour is the individuals beliefs, such as attributions, locus of control, perceived susceptibility, readiness to change and self efficacy. Health behaviour models have been developed in an effort to explain and predict and therefore enable the design of effective interventions to encourage health-protective behaviours. Health-related behavior and Health directed behavior can cause some confusion as both are similar but slightly contrast while coexisting. Health-related behavior is any action that is related to disease prevention, health maintenance, health improvement, or the restoration of health. This type of behavior can be either voluntary or involuntary, and can be undertaken explicitly for health purposes, as a matter of habit, or to comply with a law or requirement. For example, a child who runs 800 meters in a physical education class is performing a health-related behavior, but only because the teacher requires it to get a passing grade. In contrast, an adult who exercises to reduce the risk of heart disease is engaging in that behavior for the express purpose of restoring, maintaining, or improving his or her health. This type of action is called health-directed behavior. Sometimes these two types of health behavior coexist—a toddler buckled into a safety seat is participating in health-related behavior, but for the parent this is a health-directed behavior. Its evident that an individuals lifestlye plays a significant part on how behavior impacts health. Self-Care Behavior, Health Care Utilization Behavior, Dietary Behavior., Substance-Use Behavior, Sexual Behavior and Reckless Behavior are some of the types of behavioul factors which can hugely impact health. There are many questions about health-related behavior, or health behavior, that are not yet well understood. Therefore, both public health workers and scientific researchers continue to attempt to understand the nature and causes of many different health behaviors. Health behavior encompasses a large field of study that cuts across various fields, including psychology, education, sociology, public health, epidemiology, and anthropology. The various theories of health-related behavior often overlap. Not surprisingly, these explanations for behavior and models for change share several constructs and common issues. References http://www.amfire.com/statistic.asp'page=5 http://www.dhss.mo.gov/VitalStatistics/MVS03/Table19.pdf http://www.benbest.com/lifeext/causes.html