Applied Health Psychology Issues - Coursework Example

Health Psychology Name Institution Instructor Course Date of Submission Health Psychology This paper discusses health-related behavior forms as one of the most crucial components in people’s well-being and health. Human behaviors play a crucial role in the prevention of disease and maintenance of health. Much of the morbidity and mortality experienced by human beings is mostly because of individual behavior pattern, poverty or polluted environment (Daniel, Ding & Mozaffarian, 2009). Results from studies reveal that half of the deaths that occur prematurely are caused that factors that can be prevented such as smoking, taking of alcohol, unhealthy dietary habits, physical inactivity, risky sexual practices and non-adherence to medical recommendations and instructions (Schuler, Adams & Goto, 2013). Health behaviors that are risky also influence emotions, cognitive performance and the general quality of life. Due to the high mortality and morbidity rates that have been witnessed in society due to the risky behaviors exercised by people, there has always been need for modification of behaviors in quest to promote a healthy living. Health promotion can be defined as the process through which people are empowered to exercise more control of their health and the factors that affect it, thereby improving their health. There are a number of ways in which health can be promoted. They include cessation of drinking and smoking, adopting healthy dietary habits, and carrying out physical exercises. Since health promotion or lack of it largely touches on human behavior, psychology plays a big part in promoting health. There are so many ways in which psychology can be applied in promoting health. One health promotion activity in which psychology can be applied is physical exercise. Psychology can be used to promote the behavior of people engaging in physical exercise (Daniel, Ding & Mozaffarian, 2009). There are a number of psychological theories that help explain how psychology is applied in inculcating the behavior of engaging in physical exercise in people even when most of them may be unwilling to carry out the strenuous physical exercises. The theories include the health belief theory or model, reasoned action theory, planned behavior theory, self-efficacy theory, and the transtheoretical model. All these psychological theories or models are applied in one way or the other in promoting a health behavior. Health Belief Theory This theory states that people are more likely to engage in behaviors they believe are healthy. Conversely, people are likely to avoid behaviors they believe are unhealthy or harmful to their health. Therefore, a person who believes that engaging in physical exercises is likely to control or prevent cases of overweight, poor health, and other detrimental outcomes is more likely to engage in exercises than a person who does not hold the same beliefs or views (Decker & Dennis, 2013. This health belief theory can be applied in the creating of interventions that promote exercise behavior in the sense that educational materials can be tailored in a way that they create the awareness about the need for people to exercise and the repercussions of not engaging in physical exercises. Health psychologists usually employ this theory in developing messages that can appeal to people’s minds and create in them the belief that physical exercises are crucial to good health. Reasoned Action Theory This theory is concerned with factors that affect or influence the decisions of people about their behaviors in social settings. According to this theory, decisions about people’s behaviors are founded upon beliefs and information about their actions, the expected outcome from those actions and the importance or significance of those outcomes. However, the crucial part of this theory is that a person’s intentions are the best predictors of the actual behaviors exhibited by that individual (Estacio & Comings, 2013). The intention to carry out certain actions by an individual reveals the individual’s attitude towards the behavior that can be achieved through those actions. For instance, the attitude of an individual towards physical exercise reflects his/her beliefs about the importance and repercussions of carrying out or not carrying out physical exercises. The theory of reasoned action can be applied in promoting health in the sense that health promotion programs that touch on how people’s actions affect their health can be designed in order to change people’s intentions of carrying out certain unhealthy actions. The knowledge gained from the theory can be used to modify the beliefs of people about certain actions. Planned Behavior Theory This theory is an extension of the reasoned action theory. This theory includes the perceived behavioral control as another predictor of behavior. This theory asserts that beliefs form the basic determinants of behavior.. According to this theory, perceived behavior control, attitudes, and social norms influence intentions, which in turn determine the kind of behavior, one is likely to exhibit (Mente, de Koning & Shannon, 2009). Social norms play a big in determining how people behave, according to this theory. Thus, an individual in company of others is likely to be influenced by those people in terms of behavior. For instance, if a person is in company of people who regularly take part in physical exercises, then that person is likely to also take part in those exercises. The theory can be applied in promoting health because its knowledge is necessary development of health promotion programs such as social links. For instance, in promoting the exercise program as a health promotion program, one can hire a physical trainer, socialize with people at fitness clubs, work out with friends and train with teammates; Training with others through socializing results to better exercise adherence by people. Although attitude is the basic predictor of intentions, sometimes social norms within which one functions predict intentions. Perceived behavioral control looks at the ability of a person to control a certain behavior. This component of planned behavior theory looks at the perception of people on whether they have the required resources, in terms of skills and ability, to perform the desired behavior. Thus, people with unrealistic expectations are likely to experience low perceived control of the situations, leading to helplessness and disappointment about their situations (Thijssen, Maiorana & O’Driscoll, 2010). This psychological knowledge can be applied in development of realistic exercise goals which enables one to experience success and progress early (Schuler, Adams & Goto, 2013). Self-Efficacy Theory Self-efficacy refers to a set of expectations and beliefs on how competent one feels in terms of performing certain behaviors in order to achieve certain outcomes. A person with a high self-efficacy about a certain behavior or activity is more likely to adhere to that activity than a person with less self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is specific to situations or behaviors and cannot be generalized. For instance, one may have a high self-efficacy for competitive sports and not exercise. This therefore means that that person will engage in physical exercises only in readiness for sports and not for physical fitness (Fogelholm, 2010). The knowledge from this theory can be used to promote health through having health promotion programs that enhance self-efficacy among people. For instance, for exercisers, self-efficacy can be boosted through having exercisers choose the activities they feel they can accomplish. In addition, the programs can incorporate the use of performance data that show improvements such as resistance, minutes of aerobic work, flexibility, percent body fat, repetitions, and heart rate. Such data can enhance self-efficacy among exercisers when they realize that their work is paying off. This will in turn encourage them to work even more. Transtheoretical Model This model of psychology includes five stages which are the pre-contemplation stage, the contemplation stage, the preparation stage, the action stage and the maintenance stage. The precontemplation stage is a stage where a person has no intention to change his/her behavior. The contemplation stage involves a situation where an individual starts thinking about changing his/her behavior. The preparation stage, on the other hand, involves a situation one plans to change. The action stage is the stage where one engages in an activity that is directed towards behavior change (Decker & Dennis, 2013). Finally, the maintenance stage involves a stage where a constant behavior change is attained. The knowledge from this model can be applied in health promotion where an exercise program that includes all the stages of the model is developed. The knowledge from these models can be imparted using various educational media, which include educational leaflets, television adverts, and radio programs. It has been found that these media are effective in imparting knowledge among people. The materials should be tailored in such a manner that they address health issues. An example of an educational leaflet that is focused on changing behavior is How to Change Practice leaflet produced by the National institute for health and clinical excellence. This leaflet offers people advice on how to change their behavior. The leaflet starts by highlighting the types of barriers that hinder change. It then offers the advice on how one can identify the barriers and thirdly, the leaflet offers advice on how one can overcome the barriers. In this educational material, a lot of psychological knowledge has been applied. One of the psychological models that was applied in coming up with this material is the transtheoretical model. The model gives the steps one goes through to realize change. This is the same concept that has been applied in this material to advice people on how to change. Psychology is a crucial field that helps in promoting health. This is because most of the health problems by people are behavior related (Qin, Knol & Corpeleijn, 2010). Since psychology is a field that mainly explores behavior in human beings, the knowledge of psychological theories that explain different behaviors can be used to develop programs that can be used to change unhealthy and risky behaviors hence promote health. References Daniel, G., Ding, E.L. & Mozaffarian, D. (2009). The preventable causes of death in the United States: Comparative risk assessment of dietary, lifestyle, and metabolic risk factors. PLoS Medicine, 6(4), 456-512 Decker, J.W. & Dennis, K.E. (2013). The Eating Habits Confidence Survey: Reliability and Validity in Overweight and Obese Postmenopausal Women. Journal of Nursing Measurement, 21 (1), 110-119 Estacio, E.V. & Comings, J. (2013). Health literacy: Exploring future directions and potential contributions from health psychology. Journal of Health Psychology, 18(8), 997-1003. Fogelholm, M. (2010). Physical activity, fitness and fatness: Relations to mortality, morbidity and disease risk factors. A systematic review. Obesity Review, 11(3), 202-221 Mente, A. de Koning, L. & Shannon, H.S. (2009). A systematic review of the evidence supporting a causal link between dieatary factors and coronary heart disease. Archives of Internal Medicine, 169(7), 659-669 Qin, L., Knol, MJ, & Corpeleijn, E. (2010). Does physical activity modify the risk of obesity for type 2 diabetes: A review of epidemiological data. European Journal of Epidemiology, 25(1), 5-12 Schuler, G., Adams, V. & Goto, Y. (2013). Role of exercise in the prevention of cardiovascular disease: Results, mechanisms, and new perspectives. European Heart Journal, 34(31), 1093-1120 Thijssen, D.H., Maiorana, A.J. & O’Driscoll, G. (2010). Impact of inactivity and exercise on the vasculature in humans. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 108(5), 845-875 Read More