Lay Knowledge Of Health
Leventhal et al. (1985, cited in Ogden, 2007) described factors that they believed predicted health behaviours as: social factors (learning, reinforcement, modelling and social norms),
Genetics, emotional factors (anxiety, stress, tension and fear) and perceived symptoms (pain or breathlessness) and the beliefs of the lay public and health professionals, which is given in more detail later on.
An example of such an intervention is the health belief model (HBM) (Ogden, 2007). The health belief model (HBM) intends to change health behaviour so that the likelihood of health seeking behaviour is more likely. It does this by allowing the person to consider the susceptibility, the severity of the illness, the benefits of changing and carrying …show more content…
The lay knowledge of health is the social knowledge that patients use when talking to health professionals. Their knowledge is a social representation of health based on their past experiences of health and illness, social stories, media and folk knowledge. This means that lay knowledge is important in understanding health and illness in terms of what people think are the causes and the transmissions of illnesses. This means that policy makers can understand the non-medical social models and create policies that suit the opinions of the lay public. Within the lay model of health is the lay referral system which is the social process if how lay people consult their doctor (Friedson, 1961 in Busfield 2011). This showed that lay people only consult their doctor after talking with their peers. In terms of lay explanations and social policy, lay theories can show whether people believe that they are responsible for their own health or that society is. An example of this is the concept by folk models of health by Helman (1978, cited in Ogden 2007), who used the phrase ‘Feed a cold, starve a fever’, which implied that the lay population believe that a cold is caused by society but that a fever is because a person has not looked after their own …show more content…
(1994) in a longitudinal study. This research used 2270 participants who had their lay beliefs about work and stress measured by a 36 factor scale. The results showed that the lay explanation for stress at work was related to the perceived stress of work, such as danger and pressure, so that the people who perceived these to be higher were subject to more stress at work. The results then showed that lay beliefs in routine and external control were stressors at work, whereas inner control and finding help were not stressors at work. The implication of this research is that, when compared to earlier research, the lay definitions have the same meaning and have existed throughout generations in
Genetics, emotional factors (anxiety, stress, tension and fear) and perceived symptoms (pain or breathlessness) and the beliefs of the lay public and health professionals, which is given in more detail later on.
An example of such an intervention is the health belief model (HBM) (Ogden, 2007). The health belief model (HBM) intends to change health behaviour so that the likelihood of health seeking behaviour is more likely. It does this by allowing the person to consider the susceptibility, the severity of the illness, the benefits of changing and carrying …show more content…
The lay knowledge of health is the social knowledge that patients use when talking to health professionals. Their knowledge is a social representation of health based on their past experiences of health and illness, social stories, media and folk knowledge. This means that lay knowledge is important in understanding health and illness in terms of what people think are the causes and the transmissions of illnesses. This means that policy makers can understand the non-medical social models and create policies that suit the opinions of the lay public. Within the lay model of health is the lay referral system which is the social process if how lay people consult their doctor (Friedson, 1961 in Busfield 2011). This showed that lay people only consult their doctor after talking with their peers. In terms of lay explanations and social policy, lay theories can show whether people believe that they are responsible for their own health or that society is. An example of this is the concept by folk models of health by Helman (1978, cited in Ogden 2007), who used the phrase ‘Feed a cold, starve a fever’, which implied that the lay population believe that a cold is caused by society but that a fever is because a person has not looked after their own …show more content…
(1994) in a longitudinal study. This research used 2270 participants who had their lay beliefs about work and stress measured by a 36 factor scale. The results showed that the lay explanation for stress at work was related to the perceived stress of work, such as danger and pressure, so that the people who perceived these to be higher were subject to more stress at work. The results then showed that lay beliefs in routine and external control were stressors at work, whereas inner control and finding help were not stressors at work. The implication of this research is that, when compared to earlier research, the lay definitions have the same meaning and have existed throughout generations in