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Two Theoretical Models That Underpin Health Promotion

Decent Essays

The aim of the assignment is to outline at least 2 Theoretical Models that underpin health promotion. The theories chosen in this evaluation are the Health Belief Model and the Social Cognitive Theory.
In order to outline theories which underpin health promotion it is important to first understand what health promotion is. Heath promotion is the process of enabling control over health and its detriments, improving health in the long run. It promotes awareness about the issue at hand and provides support and means of improving health in the long run.
The World Health Organisation (WHO, 2005) describes health promotions as;
“The process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. It moves beyond a focus on individual …show more content…

This refers to a person’s perception that a health problem is personally relevant or that a diagnosis of illness is accurate. Another construct is Perceived severity, even when one recognizes personal susceptibility, action will not occur unless the individual perceives the severity to be high enough to have serious organic or social complications. Perceived benefits of action is our third construct which refers to the patient’s belief that a given treatment will cure the illness or help to prevent it. Perceived barriers to action refers to the complexity, duration, and accessibility and accessibility of the treatment. Cues to action includes the desire to comply with a treatment and the belief that people should do what and finally our last construct is self-efficacy, which includes personality variables, patient satisfaction, and socio-demographic …show more content…

It specifies the constructs individually, however it doesn’t take into consideration the likelihood of actions. For example, if the perceived seriousness is high and susceptibility is low, it is assumed that the probability of action will still be high; whereas realistically the likelihood would be lower than when both of the variables are high. It is assumed that the variables are not moderated by each other. It also assumes that the variables directly affect health behaviour and we remain resilient by our behavioural intentions.
The second weakness is that important factors of health behaviour, such as the positive effects of negative behaviours and social influence are not included in the model, neither are affecting social and economic factors. In addition to this criticism some behaviours, such as smoking for example; are based on a force of habit rather than a

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