How does technology influence individuals’ health behavior and health education?

What does it mean to say that health education can be an instrument for social change?

“health education is concerned not only with individuals and their families, but also with the institutions and social conditions that impede or facilitate individuals toward achieving optimum health”

any action undertaken by individual to not get sick.

justify your behavior because you are sick. actively seek help.

What are the four dimensions in which potential audience can be characterized? Provide examples of health campaigns that are designed for the targeted audiences of each dimension.

1.Sociodemographic-EX-health campaign that mobilizes teams to reach the ghettos and poor people of lower class.

2-Race- Ex: health campaign written in spanish and 5th grade reading level for large influx of mexican workers in Ca, TX, AZ.   

3-Lifecycle stage: Health campaign directed at men for colonoscopy or women for mammograms, or safe sex for teens.

4-Disease at Risk: EX: LIFEALERT commercial for senior citizens who are prone to falling, or quitting smoking campaign

What is theory? How are concepts, constructs, variables, principles, and models related to theory? (Be able to define and explain these terms.)

“A theory is a set of interrelated concepts, definitions, and propositions that present a systematic view of events or situations by specifying relations among variables, in order to explain and predict the events or situations.”
Concepts: Building blocks to the theory. They are understood outside of a theory. When they are adopted for a theory they become a construct.
Construct: has a precise definition in the context of that theory
Variables: the empirical counterparts or operational forms of constructs. They specify how a construct is to be measured in a specific situation. Variables should pair with constructs
Principles: General guidelines for action. broad & non-specific. can distort realities based on results

What are the differences between explanatory theories and change theories?

Explanatory theories help describe and identify why a problem exists. Such theories also predict behaviors under defined conditions and guide the search for modifiable factors like knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, social support, and lack of resources.

Change theories, or theories of action, guide the development of interventions. They also form the basis for evaluation, pushing the evaluator to make explicit her or his assumptions about how a program should work.

What are the paradigms for theory and research in health promotion and education?

Logical Positivism/empiricism- use of induction, sensory experience. Then validate through deduction. Believes in one way/truth. Popular though of doctors/religion.  Empiricism speaks to the validation that comes from hands on experience, kind of like opposite of theory.

What are the characteristics of sick role?

Likewise-If people think you are willing yourself to be ill, they don’t feel the need to help.

Sick Role isn't about a sickness you have it's about how society perceives the sickness.

exempted from social role responsibilities.

cannot get well by an act of decision or will.

obligated to get well.

obligated to seek technically competent help.

1. Appropriateness - (ex: For a long time, the IQ tests proved that  middle-upper class mainstream, white kids are smarter; BUT the tests tested things that only those kids would know.  The kids from different cultures didn’t know the same things that were tested for here.)

2. Heuristic Value-can other researchers add on and get a hands on learning from it?

3. Validity - ( Can I count on them?  If the theory is proved incorrect, they can say the theory is wrong)

4. Parsimony (The more simple, the better)

5. Theoretical Scope-how general is it? How widely applicable?

6. Openness- is it open to change

Define and explain the following terms: stimulus response theory, cognitive theory, value expectancy theory

S-R Theory - (Watson, 1925) “ learning results from events that reduce physiological drives that activate behavior.”

Basically, human act because they are trying to fulfill biological needs. EX: if you are thirsty, you are driven to find something to drink. If you are hungry, you act on that stimulus and find food/eat food (response).

Behavior is not explained by reasoning or thinking but by biological reinforcements.

Cognitive Theory- (value expectancy theories)

Behavior is a function of the subjective VALUE of an outcome and the subjective probability (EXPECTATION) that the action will achieve that outcome. reinforcements only influence expectations about a situation rather than change the behavior directly.

ASSUMPTIONS:

1. VALUE avoiding illness/getting well

2. EXPECT that a specific health action may prevent illness

Personal susceptibility, severity, self efficacy

What does it mean to say that Health Belief Model (HBM) is a value-expectancy Theory?

Attitudes are developed and modified based on assessments about beliefs and values.

How do the concepts in HBM explain and/or predict individuals’ health behavior? (i.e., Which concepts predicts what?)

Perceived barriers predicted health behavior change the most. Perceived severity was the least effective. perceived susceptibility was a stronger predictor of preventive health behavior than sick-role behavior.

What are the challenges when apply HBM in an intercultural setting?

The validity and reliability of the measures may not be accurate. It’s under Measurement of HBM Constructs

What are the weaknesses of Health Belief Model?

Good for one time use, not for long term health maintenance. Not effective with addicts. If they perceive that the healthy behavior is not available to them, they will not do it. Doesn’t consider emotional factor of health behavior.

How are TRA and TPB related to one another? How are they similar or different from one another?

TRA & TPB are similar in that they both focus on Behavioral Intention as the decisive point in changing behavior. The two elements that go into Behavioral Intention are Attitude and Subjective Norm. The difference in TRA/TPB is that TPB also accounts for Perceived Control as a 3rd element to influence BI.

What are the assumptions of TRA/TPB? Based on the assumptions, what is necessary to change to before a person has behavior change?  

TRA assumes that individuals are rational actors who process information with underlying reasons determining motivation.

What is the relationship between attitude and health behaviors? What have researchers found about the relationship?

They found that attitudes about objects, like cancer, are less predictive of health behavior than attitudes towards actions, like getting a mammogram. The higher the correlation between an attitude and the action, the more likely they will do the action. an attitude (toward an object or an action) is determined by expectations or beliefs concerning attributes of the object or action and evaluations of those attributes.

According to TRA and TPB, what is the most important determinant of a person’s behavior and what are its corresponding determinants?

Behavioral Intention: determinants: perceived control, attitude toward behavior, and subjective norm.

What are the differences between behavioral belief and normative belief?

Behavioral belief is your expectations and assumptions about yourself  and the outcomes you choose. Normative belief is the perception of other people’s judgements about your behavior.

It actually says we are “rational actors” we act on things we perceive to be fair. Whether or not our behavior is rational is different.  

What is volitional control? How does that predict individuals’ behavior under TRA and TPB?

Situations in which the individual can exercise a control over the behavior.

TRA works best under high volitional control.

TPB works best under low volitional control.

Why does TPB add perceived behavioral control as to the existing constructs prescribed by TRA? Give an example where TRA would not be sufficient to predict behavior change.

Because even if someone believes that changing their behavior would be good for them, and that others would approve of the behavior change, if they believe that they have no control over their behavior,as with addicts, then they won’t change their behavior.

Decision Balance

Self Efficacy

Processes of change

What is the dimension that the stage constructs aim to capture? Briefly explain the series of the six stages that the Transtheoretical Model construes change?

Avoid discussing behavior, defensive about taking pro action, unaware of severity of problem. Denial, 40% people at risk are here

substitute thinking for acting, increased awareness,not yet confident in abilities,  40% of people at risk reside here

more confident/less tempted, pros > cons, likely to participate, >20% of people at risk are here, small steps towards action.

1-No single theory can account for all the complexities of behavior change

2-Behavior change is an ongoing process that unfolds over time and through a sequence of stages

3-Stages of change may be stable or open to change

4-Most at risk populations are not prepared for action

5- Specific processes and principles of change should be applied at specific change should be applied at specific changes

What are the necessary processes to move an individual’s stages from one to another? (Note: different processes are needed for different stages)

Pre-contemplative-Contemplative: Consciousness Raising & Dramatic Relief

Action to Maintenance: Counterconditioning and stimulus control