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Use of Health Services (Recognition of Symptoms (Individual Differences
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Use of Health Services
Recognition of Symptoms
Individual Differences
- hypochondriacs = ppl who are convinced that normal bodily symptoms as indicators of illness
- convert distress into physical symptoms
- older ppl report more symptoms
- high in Neuroticism = more in tuned with internal states > recognize and report more quickly + erroneously believe they have serious diseases
Attentional Differences
- focus more on self (body, emotion, reactions) > external environment
- distracting stimuli
- lack of activity in life = feel more symptoms
Situational Factors
- boring day at home vs activity-filled day
- Medical students' disease = phenomenon where med students believe themselves to have certain symptoms, after learning about it
Mood & Emotions
- low mood = pessimistic that any action taken will be able to relieve symptoms (low outcome expectancy) + perceive self to be more vulnerable to illness
Stress
- ppl under stress perceive self to be more vulnerable > pay more attention to bodily symptoms
- life stress > stress-related physiological changes > interpret as indicator of illness
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Lay referral network:
informal network of friends/ family who offer their own interpretations of illness, before medical treatment is sought
- often the preferred mode of treatment in many countries
- offer beliefs about cause and cures that are deemed superstitious/ supernatural by traditional medicine
- prescribe home remedies as more appropriate/ effective
- the internet is a form of lay referral network
Who uses it?
Age
young & elderly
- young children develop multiple infectious diseases as they acquire their immunity
- elderly ppl prone to ageing disease and chronic conditions
Gender
women > men
- pregnancy and childbirth account for a large part of health service usage
other explanations:
- women have better homeostatic mechanisms = report pain earlier, more sensitive to bodily disruptions
- men are socialized to tolerate pain and discomfort > less likely to report/ use services
- women's medical care is more fragmented > need multiple visits whereas men can get all-preventive care at the GP
Social Class & Culture
lower social class = less use
- lesser $$
- lack availability of services
- little/ no insurance
- poor services - understaffed, inadequate
Social Psychological factors
- Health Belief model explains treatment seeking behaviours of those with $$ and available services
- Socialization by parents
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beliefs are derived from media/ friends/ family
- range from sketchy/ inaccurate to technical/ complete
- important as it has ability to influence preventive health behaviours, reaction to symptoms, treatment adherence, expectations for future health outcomes = lends coherence in comprehension of illness experience
consists of information about:
- identity, cause, consequences, treatment, effectiveness of cure, implications on QOL, duration, emotional representation
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