Health Behaviors Is Not Always Motivated By Disease Prevention For Example Personal Pleasure

In this report it will investigate at least three recent health education campaigns and use them to explain two models of behaviour change. The three recent health education campaigns will be ‘Smoke Free’, ‘Change4Life’ and ‘FRANK’. The two models of behaviour change will be the theory of reasoned action and the stages of change model.

Explain two models of behaviour change that have been used in recent national health education campaigns.

The Health Belief Model is commonly used for health promotion and health education. Its’ underlying concept is that health behavior is explained by perception of the disease and the strategies available to lower its occurrence. There are four perceptions of the HBM, which are perceived seriousness, perceived benefit, perceived susceptibility and perceived barriers. In addition to that, more constructs are added to health belief model that includes motivating factor, cues to action and self-efficacy. Each of these constructs in combination or individually, could be used to determine health behavior. The HBM also provides guidelines for the program development allowing planners to address reasons for non-compliance with recommended health action. The health belief model is a process used to promote healthy behavior among individuals who may be at risk of developing adverse health outcomes. A person must gauge their perceptions of severity and susceptibility of developing a disease. Then it is essential to feel vulnerable by these perceptions. Environmental factors can play a role as well as cues to action such as media, and close friends. In order to determine that taking action will be meaningful, the benefits to change must be weighed, against the barriers to change behavior (Green & Murphy, 2014).

Change 4 life sets out to change the behaviours and circumstances that lead to weight gain, rather than being a weight loss programme for those that are already obese (Department of Health, 2009). This campaign will give preventative health education to children and their families aslong as families integrate it into their lifestyle. It is about educating children about controlling their portion sizes, reducing their intake of sugar and salt, eating five pieces of fruit or vegetables a day, establishing three regular meal times, exercising for sixty minutes a day. To enable any individual to change they need inspiring and to be convinced that change is possible. Change 4 Life created a ‘sugar smart app’, this is a fun way of children and parents identifying the amount of sugar in a product whilst in the supermarket (Change 4 Life, Lets get sugar smart, 2016). Change 4 Life have the ‘eat well plate’, this highlights the different types of food that form a diet, showing the proportions they should be eaten in. Change 4 Life have different ideas for doing physical activity. One of the ideas is ‘the ten minutes shake up’, this involves all of childrens favourite disney characters along with fun activities (Change 4 Life,

The majority of people will decide to change their health behavior throughout their lifetime. The reasons for the change might be quite different from individual to individual. Some may be motivated to take action after experiencing a life threatening illness, while others are proactive and change their health behavior to decrease the risks of developing a potential disease. However, even if the reasons for the change are valid and well understood, there is a great possibility that one will not follow set goals long term. Stacy Carter, an assistant of professor and an author of the Social Validity Manual, expresses her opinion about people implementing a scientifically proven health behavior change treatment in their routine, “if it's something that is going to cause them a lot of effort, or is difficult to implement, then they probably are not going to use it for long” (Cranford, 2011). Use number superscript 1

Health Promotion This is the process of allowing people to have more control over their health as this will help improve their health and well-being. It focuses on individual behaviour towards a wide range of social and interventions. Health promotion is how health is shown for example to challenge obesity change 4 life is used so people can have a guidance on how to make their lifestyle healthier. It also shows that health promotion is aimed at individuals whose health is at risk from any diseases from lifestyle factors, which lets individuals take control over their health. By being able to have control over their health it shows individuals what may have happened if nothing was done of it

Over the course of the last 50 years in the UK the government (England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland) have made a great effort in order to improve the overall health of the general population in the UK. This has been achieved through the use of making the general population more aware of the dangers to their health and what they are along with they can do in order to improve it, thereby making better informed decisions in regards to their health when it comes to things such as diet, road safety (driving), exercise, smoking and education.

Improving lifestyle was given more of an emphasis after statistics showed the trends in obesity and learning that it was causing 9,000 premature deaths per year in the UK. It was also shown to cause heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer. Link this up with deaths caused by CHD in the UK shows that people need to learn more about healthy living. Due to these statistics some people are finally starting to realise problems between lifestyle choices and health and therefore quite a few are attempting to alter their lifestyle so as to maintain or proceed with a

The Health Belief Model (HBM) of health behaviour change was originally developed in the 1950s in order to understand and explain why vaccination and screening programs being implemented at the time were not meeting with success (Edberg 2007). It was later extended to account for preventive health actions and illness behaviours (Roden 2004). Succinctly, it suggests that behaviour change is influenced by an individuals’ assessment of the benefits and achievability of the change versus the cost of it (Naidoo and Wills 2000).

The Healthy People 2020 initiative encompasses a holistic approach to promoting good health and preventing disease (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). However, when asked to reflect on myself as a role model of healthy behavior a mixed feeling of satisfaction and disappointment emerge. When evaluating my lifestyle choices throughout adulthood there is always a drastic misstep. For example, when I was in the best physical shape - I polluted my body with toxic cigarettes. I felt like a hypocrite every time I would educate my patients on the risk factors of smoking and the benefits of tobacco cessation. So, I quit smoking and then gained forty pounds. This is just one example of the barriers I face when attempting to achieve the

The appropriate approach for this health promotion is through an educational approach. With this type of approach, it provides knowledge as well as helps the people to gain or developed necessary skills to guide them in making an informed decision about their health behaviour (Lucas & Lloyds, 2005). This approach does not set out to persuade or motivate change in a person’s decision-making process; the promoters are simply acting as a guide in educating the people about the disease

Noreen and Janevic (2013) believe that the success of patients’ preventive and curative interventions depends on the individual’s willingness to take responsibility for and maintain the necessary behaviors. Sadly, studies have shown that there is poor adherence to recommended changes in lifestyle and behaviors including attending scheduled appointments for treatments (which are missed 35% of the time) and compliance prescribed medication. Due to the evidence of subpar participation in preventive care such as screening and immunization efforts, behavioral scientist have dedicated more research to studying and identifying what determines individual’s health behaviors. This is how individual theories of health behavioral change were developed.

On individual level changes in health promotion and ecological approaches target and influence multiple health behaviors. This is because the individuals living in the environment are embedded in temporary change of behaviors. Therefore it is very important to consider ecological approaches, changing health behaviors and environmental factors while designing operational and supportable health promotion plans.

In addition, health belief models have been developed to determine if the individual is likely to participate in disease-prevention and health-promotion

The main purpose of health promotion is to heighten people’s motivation to strive for optimal health, while assisting them in making lifestyle modifications that will help them advance their wellbeing to an ideal state. Modifications of the unfavorable way of living can be enabled through a