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Evaluation Of COPD

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An Analysis and Evaluation of the Health Resource Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease This essay will analyse and evaluate a health resource designed for individuals newly diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). It appears that it is difficult to estimate the prevalence of COPD due to misdiagnosis (Carrier, 2009) and under-diagnosis (HSE, 2014). The Healthcare Commission (2006) estimates that 3 million people in the UK have COPD and that approximately 2 million of them are undiagnosed. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 65 million people have COPD and that the death rate is projected to increase by more than 30% in the next ten years. The main determinant for prevalence for COPD is smoking …show more content…

To manage care and symptoms the individual may have to change their behaviour. The Health Belief Model (Rosenstock, 1996) proposes that there are four factors that may influence an individual’s decision as to whether or not to change their behaviour; the perceived seriousness, risk, benefits and barriers to changing behaviour. If COPD is perceived to be a serious threat to an individual’s health they may act in concordance with the healthcare team and manage their symptoms. However it would seem that COPD is perceived as a health problem rather than an illness (Habraken, 2007) and that there is a general lack of knowledge about COPD and the consequences to health (Cook, …show more content…

This patient-centred approach would be in line with best practice guidelines and would enable healthcare professionals to provide information and support. This suggestion would validate Schofield’s (2007) findings that an understanding of the patient would help support behaviour change and the requirement for improved training highlighted in a primary care setting (Blakeman et al, 2010). There are many criticisms of the Health Belief Model in its effectiveness of predicting and changing health behaviours. A review commissioned by NICE (2006), could not find any substantial evidence that planned interventions to change health behaviours, using this model, were successful and found it simplistic in its’ design. It discussed the fact that the Health Belief Model relied on people acting rationally; it did not fully take into account how their demographic and socio-economic status may influence their decisions and how their emotional and subconscious state can have an impact on their

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