Health Belief Model and Attribution Model Quiz

Defining Concepts: Human Behaviour, Disease and Illness

• The unit aims to systematically analyze human behavior, disease, and illness.
• Some may think defining behavior is obvious, but this assumption is incorrect, as understanding influencing factors is necessary.
• Behavior refers to actions or reactions of a person, animal, or plant in response to external or internal stimuli. It can be observed and measured.

Outline

• Introduction, Objectives, Defining Behavior, Principles of Behavior, Stimulus and Response, Innate and learned Behavior, Reflex Behavior, Defining Human Behavior, Features of Human Behavior, Conclusion.

Introduction

• This unit aims to systematically analyze human behavior, disease, and illness.
• Defining behavior is important for assessing the underlying influencing factors.

Objectives

• Define behavior in a general term.
• Discuss principles of behavior.
• Define human behavior.
• Identify features of human behavior.
• Identify distinctions between human and animal behavior.

Definition of Behavior

• Behavior refers to the actions or reactions of a person, animal, or plant in response to external or internal stimuli.
• Behavior can be viewed as an external change or activity exhibited by an organism.
• Behavior can be observed and measured and is a function of a situation.

Principles of Behavior

• Stimulus and Response
• Innate and Learned Behavior
• Reflex Behavior

Stimulus and Response

• A stimulus is any phenomenon influencing a living organism's activity or growth.
• Examples of stimuli include chemical, heat, light, pressure, gravity, and any environmental change, including internal environment.
• Organisms respond automatically to stimulus.

Innate and Learned Behaviour

• Behavior can be innate (inborn) or learned.
• Behavior present at birth, is usually innate, but this doesn't mean later-occurring behavior is learned necessarily.
• Innate behavior is present and complete without experience. (e.g., newborn babies spontaneously smiling at a comforting stimulus)
• Animals with less developed nervous systems primarily rely on innate behavior.

Reflex Behavior

• A reflex is a simple, inborn, automatic response to a stimulus by a part of an organism's body. (e.g., salivating in the presence of food)
• Simple reflexes involve a receptor, sensory neuron, and effector organ.
• More complex reflexes involve inter-neurons. (e.g., withdrawing a hand from a hot object)
• Reflexes help animals respond quickly to a stimulus, thereby protecting them from harm.

Definition of Human Behavior

• Human behavior can be defined as a manner of acting or controlling oneself.
• Human behavior can be viewed as an observable demonstration of capability, skill or characteristics.

Features of Human Behavior

• Verbal (requiring language to express emotions).
• Nonverbal (independent of language, often expressed through body language and facial gestures).
• Conscious (awareness of stimulus or event).
• Unconscious (lack of awareness of stimulus or event).
• Overt (open and observable behavior).
• Covert (hidden and not readily observable behavior).
• Voluntary (performed willingly).
• Involuntary (performed without conscious control).
• Normal (typical or expected behavior).
• Abnormal (deviant from the usual).

Conceptualizing Health and Disease

• Introduction
• Objectives
• Defining Disease
• Determining Syndrome and Disease
• Determining Transmission of Disease
• Ascertaining Social Significance of Disease

What is Health

• Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
• It is a fundamental human right without distinction, and a basic to happiness, harmonious relations and security - of all people.

Components of health

• Holistic Dimension (being healthy means absence of physical and emotional disorders)
• Positive Dimension (belief that health is acquired by continuous effort, responsibilities taken)
• Negative Dimension (views health as the absence of disease or symptoms)

Defining Disease

• Pathology is the study of disease.
• Nosology is the systematic classification of diseases.
• Disease is an abnormality of the body or mind causing discomfort, dysfunction, distress, or death.
• A disease is a change away from a healthy state causing health to diminish or is the specific kind of biological reactions from some injury or change towards the internal environment of the body

Syndromes and Disease

• A syndrome is a collection of signs or symptoms that occur together.
• Many conditions may be identified as syndromes, but not be known precisely.
• Numerous conditions of unknown etiology are referred to as diseases in many contexts.

Transmission of Disease

• A contagious disease, such as Influenza is transmitted by various mechanisms such as aerosols from coughs and sneezes, infected insect bites, or contaminated water or food.
• Other diseases (eg., Cancer, Heart disease) are not directly contagious. While microorganisms may play a role, transmission between people does not occur.

Social Significance of Disease

• Identifying a condition as a disease can have significant social and economic implications.
• Some diseases are considered controversial, eg., PTSD and its impact on the economic and social responsibilities for those affected - such as the military and related organizations.
• Social implications of a condition being viewed as a disease can be profound.

Defining Illness

• Illness is a subjective state of discomfort and/or suffering.
• Perspectives of illness vary.
• Illness may be due to physical pathology but not always (e.g., anxiety or other emotional discomfort).
• Illness is related to personal perception and labeling of an event or condition.

Perspectives of Illness

• Illness as subjective sensation.
• Illness as observable symptom or disease.
• Illness as disorder or malfunction.

Illness as subjective sensation

• Illness is equivalent to feeling illness.
• Some people might feel ill despite not having discernable symptoms of disease. (e.g., anxiety or sensitivity toward health)

Illness as observable symptom

• A disease means a diagnosable physical or psychiatric problem.
• Illness is objectively measured based on symptoms, and the disease may or may not be obvious based on those observations.
• A person may perceive themselves as well despite having a medical condition (e.g., early stages of cancer).

Illness as disorder/malfunction

• Illness is considered a malfunction of bodily system, tissue or organ.
• The writer of a medical textbook will usually view illness in this way.

How concepts of illness overlap

• Illness as a subjective sensation can overlap with illness as having symptoms of a disease (e.g., pain and tiredness are both subjective).
• This overlap is most prominent in the case of mental disorders.

Distinction Between Disease and Illness

• Disease is a pathological process, often physical. (e.g., presence of physical disorder)
• Disease may or may not be accompanied by subjective feelings of illness.
• Disease is a deviation from a biological norm.
• Illness is the feeling or state of subjective un-wellness.

Illness Dynamics

• Biological Factors (such as age and genetics)
• Psychological Factors (such as personality and maturity in ego functioning)
• Social Factors (such as relationships and cultural attitudes).

Conceptualizing Health Behaviour

• Introduction
• Objectives
• Defining Health Behavior
• Health Promotion: An Overview
• Dimensions of Health Behavior
• What are Health Habits
• Complexities of Health Behavior
• Conclusion
• Examples of Health Behaviors and Habits
  • Examples of preventive and illness behaviors, such as eating healthy, exercising, and tobacco cessation, are included.

Health Promotion: An Overview

• Health promotion is a general philosophy emphasizing good health as a personal and collective achievement.
• Individual-level promotion involves establishing good health habits.
• Health-care providers must teach people about their lifestyle and helping them at risk to offset or monitor those risks (eg., developing awareness and programs to mitigate the risk of certain diseases).
• Promotion involves influencing all sections of society through media campaigns, interventions in schools, work places, and communities.

Dimensions of Health Behavior

• Physical Functioning (physical limitations).
• Mental Health (feelings of anxiety and depression).
• Social Well-being (visiting friends and family).
• Role Functioning (freedom and limitations in work and school).
• General Health Perception (self-assessment).
• Symptoms (reports of physiological and psychophysiological symptoms).

What Are Health Habits?

• Health habits are firmly established health-related behaviours, frequently performed automatically and without awareness.
• Examples of health habits include wearing a seat belt or brushing teeth.
• Health habits are often set up during childhood (and begin to stabilize around age 11 or 12).
• Established health habits can be difficult to change.

Complexities of Health Behavior

• Health behaviors can be influenced by an individual's lifestyle choices, and environmental factors, as well as by other, related behaviors. (e.g., eating healthy behaviours are often correlated with other healthy behaviours like exercising)
• There are multiple factors that influence healthy behaviours. (e.g., exercising, a routine, genetic predisposition etc)
• Some habits may be easier to establish than others (e.g., brushing teeth vs. starting a physical exercise program)

Changing Patterns of Health and Illness

• Introduction
• Changing patterns of illness and disease metamorphosis
• Environment, health, and diseases
• Lifestyle, health, and diseases
• Health/Illness and the Advent of New Technology
• Health/Illness and Health Research
• Changing patterns of Health/Illness and Epidemiology
• Conclusion

Attitude Change and Health Promotion

• Introduction, Objectives, Principles used to promote attitude change and positive health behavior, Information Appeals, Persuasion, Key Factors in Persuasion, Fear Appeal (and its application to health promotion), Mass Media Appeal (and its role, strategies, advantages and limitation), Self-help Groups (and its focus and mechanisms), Health Promotion in Schools, Health Promotion in Workplaces, Health Promotion in Communities, Conclusion

Addressing Specific Health Behavior Problems

• Introduction, Objectives, Alcohol Abuse (and causes and societal implications), Obesity (and causes), HIV/AIDS (and causes, transmission methods, and prevention strategies), Conclusion (and summary and implication).

Additional Notes:

• The provided summaries and notes contain a comprehensive view of the topics covered.
• Each section is detailed.
• The information should be sufficient to assist student preparation for their study notes.

Test your understanding of the Health Belief Model and its distinctions from the Attribution Model. Explore the external factors influencing health behaviors, the implications for health perception, and the psychological aspects related to obesity. This quiz covers key concepts that are essential for health psychology students.