Health Beliefs and Behaviour

Question 1

Define health behaviour.

Answer 1

Any activity undertaken by an individual believing himself to be healthy, for the purpose of preventing disease or detecting it at an asymptomatic stage

Question 2

Describe the effect of education on health behaviour.

Answer 2

Education is effective on its own at changing discrete health behaviours e.g. getting a child vaccinated However, it is not effective on its own for more complex health behaviours It needs to be combined with individualised support, as well as economic, environmental and regulatory support

Question 3

Describe a study that showed the effect of education on healthbehaviour.

Answer 3

Nutbeam study on the effect of smoking education in schools
Smoking education showed that it increased knowledge but had no effect on behaviour (smoking)

Question 4

What is the Expectancy-Value model?

Answer 4

Potential for behaviour to occur is to do with:
 EXPECTANCY that the behaviour will lead to a particular outcome
 VALUE of that outcome

Question 5

Describe the results of an experiment that looked into the effect of fear arousal on health behaviours.

Answer 5

Fear arousal experiment in dental health – participants were exposed to either low, moderate or high fear with regards to dental health
Result: the higher the level of fear, the lower the change in behaviour

Question 6

What is self-efficacy?

Answer 6

Belief that one can execute the behaviour required to produce the outcome

Question 7

What are the four sources of self-efficacy?

Answer 7

Mastery experience
Social learning
Verbal persuasion and encouragement
Physiological arousa

Question 8

Draw the health beliefs model

Answer 8

Health Belief model

Question 9

Draw the theory of planned behaviour model.

Answer 9

Planned behaviour model

Question 10

What are the stages of the transtheoretical model?

Answer 10

PCDARM 
Precontemplation 
Contemplation 
Determination 
Action  
Relapse  
Maintenance  
NOTE: you can enter and leave at any stage