Essay on healthfield
First, think of a behavior you would like to change. This can relate to your own behavior, person’s you know or a public health or kinesiology problem.
Second, think of one of the four behavioral models discussed in the lecture and readings that resonates with you.
Third, map that behavior to each of your model’s constructs. Examples in class were, for example, for the TTM Action phase, one needs to be currently using intervention (i.e. patch) to stop the smoking behavior.
Forth, examine the constructs of this behavioral model and design a public health or behavioral intervention that uses each of these constructs. Examples of an intervention could be to improve study habits, to improve attendance at a workout group, to improve vegetable intake, to stop smoking, to stop drinking, or to stop doing other adverse behaviors.
Make sure that you use the construct words in your description of your intervention. For example, if you are using the Health Belief Model, use the words “perceived susceptibility,” “perceived severity,” and so on.
This essay should:
1. Have an introduction paragraph summarizing your essay.
2. Describe your intervention with details.
3. Describe which behavioral model you chose and why.
4. Map the intervention to the model (that is, use behavioral model construct words in your description of the intervention).
5. Have a conclusion paragraph.
The required length for this assignment is 800 to 1200 words (about 1.5 to 2 pages), single-spaced with spaces between paragraphs.
Use anyone model
· Health Belief Model
· Social Cognitive Theory
· Theory of Planned Behavior
· Transtheoretical Model of behavior change
SPEAKER: So the health belief model. The health belief model was one of the first theories of health behavior and remains one of the most widely recognized in the field. It was developed in the 1950s by a group of US Public Health Service social psychologists who wanted to explain why so few people were participating in programs to prevent and detect disease. So for example, Public Health Services was sending mobile x-ray units out to neighborhoods and offer free chest x-rays for screening for tuberculosis. So tuberculosis is caused by bacteria. Sanatoriums were developed to isolate people who would probably recover from the disease. The average time spent was several months, and people would have to leave their husbands, wives, and children that were dependent on them. Surgery was another treatment to use to prolong life. Over 60% of people with TB died of TB before the 1950s. But with more effective treatments such as antibiotics, only 9% of people died. The way to diagnosis TB is through an x-ray. Despite the fact that this was a free x-ray service, was sent to a variety of convenient locations, the program was limited of success. The question was, why? The Public Health Service thought the public was not clear on whether or not they were susceptible to disease or they thought they could avoid it, which influenced their readiness to act. The health belief model starts with one, the belief they are susceptible to the condition. That’s perceived susceptibility. Second, the condition has serious consequences or perceived severity. Third, belief taking action would reduce susceptibility to the condition, or severity. That is perceived benefits. The next, believe costs of taking action or perceived barriers outweigh the benefits. Next, they are exposed to factors that promote action, for example, a television ad or a reminder from one’s physician to get a mammogram. That’s a cue to action. And next, they are confident in their ability to successfully perform the action. That’s self-efficacy. So high blood pressure screening campaigns often identify people who are at high risk for heart disease and stroke, but who say they have not experienced any symptoms. Because they don’t feel sick, they may not follow instructions to take the prescribed medicine or lose weight. The health belief model can be useful for developing strategies to deal with noncompliance in such situations. According to the health belief model, asymptomatic people may not follow a prescribed treatment regimen unless they accept that even though they have no symptoms, they do, in fact, have hypertension. That’s perceived susceptibility. They must understand that hypertension can lead to heart attack and strokes. That’s perceived severity. Taking prescribed medications or following a recommended weight loss program will reduce the risks. That’s perceived benefits. And without negative side effects or excessive difficulty. That’s perceived barriers. Print material, reminder letters, or pill calendars might encourage people to consistently follow their doctor’s recommendations. That’s cues to action. Now, for those who in the past have had a hard time losing weight or maintaining weight loss, a behavioral contract may help establish an achievable short term goal to build confidence. That’s self-efficacy. So the transtheoretical model of change or stages of change model was developed by Prochaska and Di Clemente. The stages of change model evolved out of studies comparing experiences of smokers who quit on their own with those smokers receiving professional treatment. The model’s basic premise is that a behavior change is a process, not an event. A person attempts to change a behavior.
He or she moves through five stages, pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. Definitions of these stages vary slightly depending on the behavior issue. So people at different points along the continuum have different informational needs and benefit from different interventions designed for their stage. The model isn’t linear. In other words, people don’t systematically progress from one stage to the next, ultimately graduating from the behavior change process. Instead, they enter the change process at any stage, relapse to an earlier stage, and begin the process once more. They may cycle through this process repeatedly. And the process can truncate at any point. Suppose a large company hires a health educator to plan a smoking cessation program for its employees who smoke, 200 people. The health educator decides to offer group smoking cessation clinics to employees at various times and locations. Several months pass, however, and only 50 of the smokers sign up for the clinic. At this point, the health educator faces a dilemma. How can the 150 smokers who are not participating in the clinic be reached? The stages of change model offers perspectives on ways to approach this problem. First, the model can be employed to help understand and explain why they are not attending the clinic. Second, it can be used to develop a comprehensive smoking program to help more current and former smokers change their smoking behavior and maintain that change. By asking a few simple questions, the health educator can assess what stages of contemplation potential program participants are in. So for example, are you interested in trying to quit smoking? That would be a pre-contemplation stage. Are you thinking about quitting smoking soon? That would be contemplation. Are you ready to plan how you will quit smoking? Preparation. Are you in the process of trying to quit smoking? Action. Are you trying to stay smoke free? Maintenance. Suppose the 150 people who didn’t attend enjoy smoking. What message can we give to them to think about quitting smoking? Perhaps how smokers smell to nonsmokers or how yellow their teeth are compared to nonsmokers. What message can you give a person who is in the smoking cessation program– what messages do they need to encourage them to stay smoke free, to avoid triggers such as places they used to smoke, like smoking bars, or using some of their ciggie bank rewarding themselves for not buying cigarettes? The theory of planned behavior and theory of reasoned action– the theory of planned behavior and reasoned action assumes behavioral intention is the most important determinant of behavior. According to these models, behavior intention is influenced by a person’s attitude toward performing a behavior and by beliefs about whether the individuals who are important to the person approve or disapprove of the behavior. That’s the subjective norm. So the TPB and TRA assume all other factors– that’s culture, the environment– operate through the models constructs and do not independently explain the likelihood that a person will behave a certain way. So here’s a published example of this theory applied to chlamydia screening program. Attitudes that encourage women to be tested included thinking that people like them can get the disease. It’s personally relevant. It can be asymptomatic, but it can have serious long-term effects, like infertility, knowing that it can be treated, et cetera. Subjective norms to make chlamydia screening an approved behavior is to promote it as a responsible behavior and provide respected and trusted users. Ever wonder why actors are used to promote a good behavior? The perceived behavioral control is to allow women to feel that they can have such a test, such as making it accessible, like mobile services make services easy to obtain, or provide support and privacy and confidentiality.
The social cognitive theory– according to the social cognitive theory, three main factors affect the likelihood that a person will change a health behavior, self-efficacy, goals, and outcome expectancies. So if individuals have a sense of personal agency or self-efficacy, they can change behaviors when faced with obstacles. If they do not feel that they can exercise control over their health behavior, they are not motivated to act or to persist through challenges. As a person adopts new behaviors, this causes changes in both the environment and in the person. Behavior is not simply a product of the environment. And the person and the environment is not simply a product of person and behavior. So Albert Bandura is credited with the development of the social change theory. He conducted these famous studies on aggression. He had several sets of parents and children. And in a nutshell, he put the first set of parents in a room and told them to play aggressively with the Bobo doll, a life-sized, humanshaped ball with the weight in the bottom so it doesn’t fly all over the place. The parents kicked, smacked, beat on the Bobo doll while the children watched. Then for the next set of parents, he told them to play nicely with the Bobo doll while the children watched. He put the children in the room with a Bobo doll and noticed children who watched parents play aggressively with the dolls also played aggressively with the dolls. And children who watched parents play nicely with the dolls played nicely with the dolls. Here is an example of an applied public health perspective. A university in a rural area develops a church-based intervention to help congregation members change their habits to meet cancer risk reduction guidelines. It’s a behavior. Many members of the church have low incomes. They are overweight. They rarely exercise. They eat foods that are high in sugar and fat. And they’re uninsured. Those are personal factors. But because of their rural location, they often must drive long distances to attend church, to visit health clinics, or even buy groceries. That’s the environment. The program offers classes that teach healthy cooking and exercise skills– behavioral capability. Participants learn how eating a healthy diet and exercise will benefit them– expectations. Health advisers create contracts with participants, setting incremental goals. That’s self-efficacy. Respected congregation members serve as role models– observational learning. Participants receive tshirts, recipe books, and other incentives and are taught to reward themselves by taking time to relax– reinforcement. As church members learn about healthy lifestyles, they bring healthier foods to church, reinforcing their healthier habits– reciprocal determinism. A couple of frequent student questions here. Which model is used the most? Well, I did a quick search on PubMed and found that they’re all used a lot. Remember that these are not the only ones used. My research involves who uses and who does not use medical care. And I’ve used a model called the Andersen-Newman behavioral model of health services. I’ve also used a model called RE-AIM, a conceptual framework which stands for Reach, Effectiveness Adoption, and Implementation, and Maintenance.
