Health Psychology: Health Issues and Problems - Assignment Example

Health Psychology: Health Issues and Problems Thesis Statement Patients may choose not to comply with the decision of physicians who are well trained and knowledgeable about the health issues and problems that may be afflicting the patients. To some extent, the patients are responsible for not compiling to the decisions of the physicians and at the same time, the professionals are responsible when the patients do not comply with the decisions of the physicians. This paper will look the extent at which both the physicians and the patients are responsible for not complying with the decisions of the physicians even though the physicians are deemed to be very knowledgeable in the field of medicine. Introduction In the field of medicine, medical doctors are deemed to be very knowledgeable in relation to the health of the people and it is in this respect that people who are facing health problems consult medical doctors. However, there are other people who do not comply with the decisions of the medical doctors and this has led to various health problems that can be avoided being witnessed. This can be attributed to the fact that most of the people who do not comply with the decision of the medical doctors do not have the psychological back up that precipitates the need for them to comply with the decision of the medical doctors. This have been especially noted of people who do not have the positive mental attitude in regards to their health and have tendencies of panicking when they are faced by various health problems (Ogden, 249). This can be avoided if the patient complies with the decisions of the physician. Sometimes, though the patient may have the capability of complying with the decision of the medical doctors, they do not do so. Sometimes, the patient cannot be able to comply with the decisions of the physician and this can be attributed to various factors like lack of education, medical institution flaws and the economic situation of the patients and the countries in which they reside. However, the patient cannot wholly be held responsible for not complying with the decision of the physician. The professionals can be held responsible at times and this means that there needs to be institutional reforms which will address the contribution of the professionals in the patients not complying with the decisions of a professional. Health Psychology Health Psychology is very important to the health and has a very adverse effect to patients who are suffering from various health problems. This is because the mental attitude has been deemed to be very influential in the determining the health of a patient and how long a patient will take to recover from a certain health problem. This can be attributed to the fact that a patient with positive mental attitude feels that they will be past that problem and go back to their normal life as soon as the medical problem is over. This can be manifested in many ways including the patient trying to walk around when still under medication, sitting up in bed and also adhering to the instructions of the physician who is attending to them (Glanz, 120). How both the professionals and the patients are responsible for the patients not complying with the decision of the physician Both the patients and the professionals have been deemed to be responsible for the non-compliance of patients with the decision of the physicians. This can be attributed to the fact that the patients may fail to comply with the decision of the physicians on the basis of ignorance, prejudice and mental attitude towards the professionals. On the other hand the professionals may also be held responsible because of various reasons which include the professionals giving hard to comply with decisions on the basis that they are costly to the patient. There is also the reason that the professionals may not be well qualified and hence the patient’s reluctance to adhere comply with the decision of the physician (Conner, 165). A good example are the patients with chronic illnesses like tuberculosis and when a doctor makes the decision that the patient should quit some disastrous habits like smoking when suffering from tuberculosis, the patients who may be involved in smoking will be blamed but the doctors will also be blamed for not informing the patient of the best methods to quit smoking and hence not helping the patient to comply with the physician’s decision. This means that both the patients and the physicians are to be held responsible if the patient does not comply with the decision of the physician. Health Belief Model This is a psychological model that was developed by Rosenstock in the year 1966 and it was very instrumental in the studying and the promotion of the services that were offered by psychologist. The model has been subject to many amendments throughout the years and the last time that the model was amended was in the year 1988. These amendments have been made to accommodate various developments in the field. It is important to note that the model was initially developed to study the behavior of the patients in relation to the response the patients had to treatment. The model initially concentrated on the response of the chronic and acute patients but in modern times, the model has been used to study more general patients (Rosenstock, 236). The health belief model has the basis that an individual will do an action that is related to health if the individual is aware that the health problem is avoidable. The individual will also take an action if the individual has a positive expectation that by the virtue that the individual is doing an action that is recommended by the health fraternity, and then the individual will avoid a health problem. The individual also feels that he or she can effectively and successfully to avoid a negative health condition (Conner, 165). In its initial inception, the health belief model was spelled out in four construct terms that highlighted the threat and benefits. The four constructs are susceptibility, severity, benefits and barriers. It is important to note that the four constructs are always seen as perceived and they have been seen as the precipitate for individual to take a health action. In recent times, there has been the addition of other concepts in the health belief model such as the concept of efficacy and the concept of action cues (Glanz, 95). These concepts have been deemed to be very instrumental in aiding people to adopt healthy ways of living and do away with unhealthy reaction. The healthy action that are encouraged include such actions as health eating habits, healthy sexual habits among others while the actions that are discouraged include such actions as smoking, unhealthy eating habits and unsafe sexual habits that would precipitate the contraction of various diseases which are considered to be brought about by the unsafe healthy actions (Ogden, 249). How Patients are responsible for complying with physicians’ decision There are various reasons why patients may not comply with the decision of a physician and this is despite the fact that the physicians are considered to be the better informed people. One of the reasons can be identified as the mental attitude of the patients. It is important to note that the mental attitude of the patients is very important in taking a health related decision and this can be attributed to the fact that the patient may feel obligated to be engaged in other activities than the activities that have been advised by the doctor. This have brought a lot of problems to the patients because some of the activities that the doctors recommend are very instrumental in ensuring that the patients gets well as soon as possible and also in ensuring that the condition can be avoided in the future. The mental attitude of the patient can also be influential when the patient feels that the doctor may have been mistaken when coming to the decision. A good example is when in a case of asthma, a doctor makes the decision that the patient should avoid dusty areas. The patient may not comply on the basis that the patients thinks dusty areas makes an asthma patient be used to such areas (Eisen, 296). Another reason why the patient may not comply with the doctor’s decision is when the doctor has made a decision which is against the normal habits of a patient. This means that if the patient is used to something and derives some pleasure from that activity, then it will be hard for the patient to quit that habit. One example is when the doctor makes the decision that a patient should quit using drugs and at the same time the patient has been used to such drugs as alcohol and anti depressants which the patients enjoys using. This means that the patient may feel that his or her freedom is being limited by the doctors’ decision and hence the refusal to comply with the decision of the doctor (Conner, 178). Another reason why a patient may find it difficult to comply with the decision of a doctor is the fact that the patient is addicted to a habit which the doctor has made a decision against. This can be attributed to the fact that even though the patient is facing the health problem due to the fact that the he or she is engaged in such habits, it is not easy to stop because the patient has already been addicted to a certain habit. Such habits include smoking and the use of hard drugs which a patient can be addicted to and which also pose a great threat to the health of the individuals who are engaged in such activities. This has put the lives of many people who are addicted to these behaviors at risk because these activities only helps in worsening the health problem while the patient is still engaged in such activities (Ogden, 259). Another reason is the fact that patient may have his or her own decision that differs with the decision of the doctor and hence the doctor may find it hard to convince the patient of the importance of complying with the decision that the physician has made. This means that patients who have had a history of a medical condition may find the decision of a physician hard to follow considering that another physician had made another decision which had worked. It is important to note that the physician when making the decision has deemed the decision to be the best for that particular condition (Eisen, 196). Why professionals are responsible for the consequences if the patient does not heed the doctors’ instructions One of the reasons why the patient may not comply with the decision of a doctor is because the patient does not have enough education and hence does not see the need and the importance of following the doctor’s recommendation. This cannot be blamed on the part of the part of the patient but the system which has failed to educate the citizens on various issues that are very pertinent on their livelihood. The government has the responsibility of ensuring that the citizens are educated to such ends. When the government fails in educating the people on the necessity of complying with the decisions of the physician, then the patients will not see the importance of complying with the decision of the physician thus endangering his or her life. This can be held as the responsibility of the professionals who have failed to insist on the importance of the patient complying with their decision (Glanz, 96) Patients may find it hard to comply with the decision of a physician if the physician is not well qualified. This means that the credibility of the medical fraternity of any country is very important in ensuring that the patients comply with the decisions of the physician. In many countries which are not yet developed, the medical fraternities have been noted to lack the necessary training and this have undermined the credibility of the medical institutions in those countries. This can be held as the responsibility of the professionals (Rosenstock, 236). The patient may also find it hard to comply with the physicians’ decisions if the decisions require the patient to use a lot of money and the economic situation is not well for the patient or that particular country at that particular time. Some decisions requires very costly behaviors and medication and many people cannot afford to maintain them and hence the requirement of the medical fraternity in any country to ensure that the physicians’ decisions are apt for the economical situation of the country and also for individual patients. This can be held as the responsibility of the professionals (Becker, 326). Importance of complying with the decisions of a doctor It has been noted to be very important for a patient to comply with the decisions of a physician. One of the importances is that the condition will be arrested before it develops into a life threatening health condition. It has been noted that patients who wholly complied with the decisions of the physician have prolonged their lives and this can be attributed to the fact that the physicians have good knowledge of a diverse types of ailments. Of importance is where the patient is suffering from chronic diseases like tuberculosis and the complying with the decisions of a physician is very important in curing and removing the chances of the disease recurring (Conner, 196). It is also important to note that doctors are well informed about various ailments and hence the necessity for the patients to comply with their decisions. Many people have died due to the fact that they think they can cure themselves and only go to the hospital when the situation is very developed. When a doctor makes a decision that the condition can be avoided if the patient takes up an activity, then the doctor is well informed and hence he is sure of what he is deciding for the patient to do (Eisen, 302). To what extent is the patient responsible for non-compliance with physician’s decision? The study has shown why it is hard for the patients to fully comply with the decision of the doctor and to some extent this can be attributed to the fact that the patient is willing to ignore the directives of the doctor. This is when the patient is unwilling even though the patient has the ability to fully complying with the decisions that have been made by a doctor. To this end, the patient is responsible for the consequences that may befall him or her (Becker, 326). In another circumstance the patient may not be able to comply with the decisions of the doctor because of the system and this cannot be blamed on the part of the patient. It is in this respect that the paper concludes that the patient is not fully responsible for not complying with the physician’s decision (Champion, 230). Hence the extent of the patient to be responsible is up to a level whereby the patient cannot satisfactory comply with the decision. However, if the patient has the capability of complying with the decisions of a physician, then the patient is overly responsible. This study concludes that the patients are not overly responsible for the consequences that may befall them if the patient does not comply with the decision of the doctor. The system is also partly responsible for non-compliance on the part of the patient and this means that there is need for reforms to be done in various countries to avoid gross non-compliance which can negatively affect a significant number of citizens in a given country (Champion, 230). Works Cited Becker, M.H. The Health Belief Model and Personal Health Behavior. Health Education Monographs. Vol. 2 No. 4. Becker, M.H.,Radius, S.M., & Rosenstock, I.M. (1978). Compliance with a medical regimen for asthma Champion, V.L. (1984). Instrument development for health belief model constructs, Advances in Nursing Science, 6, 73-85. Conner, M. & Norman, P. (1996). Predicting Health Behavior. Search and Practice with Social Cognition Models. Open University Press: Ballmore: Buckingham. Eisen, M et.al. (1992). A Health Belief Model — Social Learning Theory Approach to Adolescents' Fertility Control: Findings from a Controlled Field Trial. Health Education Quarterly. Vol. 19. Glanz, K., Marcus Lewis, F. & Rimer, B.K. (1997). Theory at a Glance: A Guide for Health Promotion Practice. National Institute of Health. Glanz, K., Rimer, B.K. & Lewis, F.M. (2002). Health Behavior and Health Education. Theory, Research and Practice. San Fransisco: Wiley & Sons. Ogden J. (2007). "Health Psychology: A Textbook" Rosenstock, I. (1974). Historical Origins of the Health Belief Model. Health Education Monographs. Vol. 2 No. 4. Read More