Thursday, October 24, 2013

Health Behavior Essay

Bright, S. J. et al. (2008). Cigarette smoking among young adults: Integrated adolescent cognitive egocentrism with the trans-theoretical model. Australian Journal of Psychology, 60, (1), 18-25. Retrieved from EBSCO. http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.pasadena.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=2b06a747- dcec-4bf4-b3bc-60a8b4b8d17f%40sessionmgr113&vid=1&hid=112

According to this source, one of the mostly used behavioral models in assisting cigarette smokers, and especially the adolescents and young people to quit smoking is the trans-theoretical model. This model has five stages, which include pre-contemplation stage, contemplation stage, preparation stage, action stage and the maintenance stage. The most important groups among these five groups are the pre-contemplation stage and the contemplation stage. In the pre-contemplation stage, the smokers do not feel as if they are doing anything wrong. However, this changes as individuals enter the contemplations stage, where they start experiencing cognitive dissonance. According to this study, the use of trans-theoretical model may be inappropriate because, it exhibits inefficiencies when it is applied.

Girma, E. et al. (2010). Cigarette smokers’ intention to quit smoking in Dire Dawa town Ethiopia: an assessment using the trans-theoretical model. BMC Public Health, 10, (2010), 320-326. Retrieved from EBSCO. http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.pasadena.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=cd21541d- f4b1-4958-a233-f3f33943c50b%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=112

In this source, the trans-theoretical model is applied in assessing cigarette smokers’ intention to quit smoking. The study was conducted in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, and it involved 384 current cigarette smokers. Data was collected using a questionnaire, and was further analyzed using SPSS package. The results indicated that most of the smokers were actually intending to stop smoking. At the same time, the smokers who did not intend to stop smoking indicated a very high dependence on nicotine, as well as self-efficacy. Additionally, the results also showed that the advantages of smoking were decreasing as disadvantages increased in all stages. This implies that there is a need for medical personnel to use stage based interventions in assisting the patients to move from one stage to another in the trans-theoretical model.

Carnes, M. et al. (2005). Diversity in academic medicine: The stages of change model. Journal of women’s health, 14, (6), 471-475. Retrieved from EBSCO. http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.pasadena.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=55a21c1f- 1378-4710-94ff-37ca32e46a05%40sessionmgr112&vid=1&hid=112G

Cultural diversity and gender equality have not been taken seriously in the medical field for a number of years. These are critical issues, which must be addressed appropriately for the medical field to perform and operate efficiently. The best way to ensure this is through the application of trans-theoretical model. Even though nicotine is very addictive, a great number of people have been able to overcome their smoking habits through the application of the trans-theoretical model. Because of this reason, many public places including offices are now smoking free zones. Academic medicine played a very critical role towards this new trend. It should also play the same role in addressing these issues.

Prochaska, J. J. et al. (2007). Medical Students’ use of the stages of change model in tobacco cessation counseling. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 22, (2), 223-227. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1824739/

The trans-theoretical model has been adopted in the majority of medical facilities and institutions for assisting in tobacco cessation. According to a research that was done on 147 medical students, in order to assess their preparation level for providing stage based interventions in treating cigarette smokers, it was evident that medical students are able to match their counseling strategies to a patient’s stage of change. However, they require more training in order to be able to assist their patients appropriately.

Balbach, E. D. (2008). How the health belief model helps the tobacco industry: individuals, choice and information. Tobacco Control, 15, (4), iv37-iv43. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2563587/

This source is a research, which aims to determine how tobacco industry executives use concepts of choice and information as well as make a consideration on how these concepts relate to health behavioral change theoretical models. The findings of this research indicated that the tobacco industry executives used these two terms inappropriately and in a cunning way, through which, they were able to shift the responsibility and the blame to the consumer. In doing so, they relied on individual rational choice theories, which lay emphasis on autonomous decision-making. However, the tobacco industry should stop using these theories and adopt models that require it to participate in assisting its customers to stop smoking in a genuine way.

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