Theory Of Individual Health Behavior

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Theory of Individual Behavior

Many models and theories are used for the prevention and treatment of different types of diseases. These theories and models are used to identify different factors that cause the disease and also design strategies and treatments to prevent such diseases or problematic behaviors. Such theories and models are used by the public health policymakers to design effective treatments and also to specify precautionary measures for various diseases, like HIV AIDS, cancer, substance like drugs and alcohol uses.

When identifying different theories and models for disease prevention and health improvements, it is vital to study certain factors such as the health issue that is addressed, the vulnerable population and also the context within which the program is being implemented. The Health Belief Model (HBM) is one such model which was basically introduced in 1996, and still, it is applicable and used by many public health practitioners. This model specifies that if an individual perceives a disease to be severe, recognizes the severe outcome of the disease and also identifies some of the measures to reduce its impact then that person will automatically distance himself from such behaviors which will cause him that specific disease ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"IjYM5TM5","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Munro, Lewin, Swart, & Volmink, 2007)","plainCitation":"(Munro, Lewin, Swart, & Volmink, 2007)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":501,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/4C6u8dIT/items/62MK3PLC"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/4C6u8dIT/items/62MK3PLC"],"itemData":{"id":501,"type":"article-journal","title":"A review of health behaviour theories: how useful are these for developing interventions to promote long-term medication adherence for TB and HIV/AIDS?","container-title":"BMC Public Health","page":"104","volume":"7","source":"PubMed Central","abstract":"Background\nSuboptimal treatment adherence remains a barrier to the control of many infectious diseases, including tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, which contribute significantly to the global disease burden. However, few of the many interventions developed to address this issue explicitly draw on theories of health behaviour. Such theories could contribute to the design of more effective interventions to promote treatment adherence and to improving assessments of the transferability of these interventions across different health issues and settings.\n\nMethods\nThis paper reviews behaviour change theories applicable to long-term treatment adherence; assesses the evidence for their effectiveness in predicting behaviour change; and examines the implications of these findings for developing strategies to improve TB and HIV/AIDS medication adherence. We searched a number of electronic databases for theories of behaviour change. Eleven theories were examined.\n\nResults\nLittle empirical evidence was located on the effectiveness of these theories in promoting adherence. However, several models have the potential to both improve understanding of adherence behaviours and contribute to the design of more effective interventions to promote adherence to TB and HIV/AIDS medication.\n\nConclusion\nFurther research and analysis is needed urgently to determine which models might best improve adherence to long-term treatment regimens.","DOI":"10.1186/1471-2458-7-104","ISSN":"1471-2458","note":"PMID: 17561997\nPMCID: PMC1925084","shortTitle":"A review of health behaviour theories","journalAbbreviation":"BMC Public Health","author":[{"family":"Munro","given":"Salla"},{"family":"Lewin","given":"Simon"},{"family":"Swart","given":"Tanya"},{"family":"Volmink","given":"Jimmy"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2007",6,11]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Munro, Lewin, Swart, & Volmink, 2007). The public health policymakers use this theory for the individuals who are involved in drug abuse and alcohol use. In this model different strategies are used to keep the youngsters away from such social behaviors.

The examples of the health belief model are the Michigan Model for Health which is a course that is used for application in schools. It is also used to target social and emotional health tasks including health, physical activity, and substance like alcohol and drug use. This model uses components of health belief model which are related to health, knowledge, and self-efficacy. The important point of this model is, it has many short and long term interventions which are designed for the youngsters to take them out from substance abuse ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"lmC5cJu2","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Poss, 2001)","plainCitation":"(Poss, 2001)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":504,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/4C6u8dIT/items/R75NSYWS"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/4C6u8dIT/items/R75NSYWS"],"itemData":{"id":504,"type":"article-journal","title":"Developing a New Model for Cross-Cultural Research: Synthesizing the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Reasoned Action:","container-title":"Advances in Nursing Science","page":"1-15","volume":"23","issue":"4","source":"Crossref","DOI":"10.1097/00012272-200106000-00002","ISSN":"0161-9268","shortTitle":"Developing a New Model for Cross-Cultural Research","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Poss","given":"Jane E."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2001",6]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Poss, 2001).

Although many other models and theories are used for some specific diseases and population, for the substance use, specifically in youth this is the most effective method because in this model the physical and also psychological factors are kept in mind. The short term goals of this program are designed specifically to encourage the drug users that they can get rid of this addiction which ultimately boosts their confidence and they become free of the drug or alcohol use.

References

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Munro, S., Lewin, S., Swart, T., & Volmink, J. (2007). A review of health behavior theories: how useful are these for developing interventions to promote long-term medication adherence for TB and HIV/AIDS? BMC Public Health, 7, 104.

Poss, J. E. (2001). Developing a New Model for Cross-Cultural Research: Synthesizing the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Reasoned Action: Advances in Nursing Science, 23(4), 1–15.