Dissertations / Theses: 'Health behaviour'

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Sprague, Daniel Alexander. "Modelling health behaviour." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2015. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/77458/.

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Many diseases can be prevented or mitigated through behaviour change, but we lack a quantitative model that can accurately predict these changes and inform policies designed to promote them. Here we introduce a quantitative model of health behaviour that takes into account individual-level barriers, the health system, and spread between individuals. We investigate limits of the model where each of these determining factors is dominant, and use them to predict behaviour from data. We apply the model to individual-level geographic barriers to mothers giving birth in a health facility, and find evidence that ease-of-access is a major determinant of delivery location. The geographic barriers allow us to explain the observed spatial distribution of this behaviour, and to accurately predict low prevalence regions. We then apply the model to the role of the health system in determining health facility usage by mothers of sick children. We show that local health facility quality does predict usage, but that this predictive power is significantly less than that gained by including unaccounted-for spatial correlation such as social influence. We also show evidence that results-based funding, rather than traditional input-based funding, increases usage. We develop a psychologically-motivated ‘complex contagion’ model for social influence and incorporate it into a general model of behaviour spread. We apply this model to short-lived behavioural fads, and show that ‘nudges’ can be very eﬀective in systems with social influence. We successfully fit the model to data for the online spread of real-world behaviour, and use it to predict the peak time and duration of a fad before the peak occurred. Finally, we discuss ways to incorporate disease state into the model, and to relax the limits used in the rest of the thesis. We consider a model which links health behaviour to disease, and show that complex contagion leads to a feature that is not present in traditional models of disease: the survival of an epidemic depends non-trivially on the initial fraction of the population that is infected. We then introduce two possible models that include both social influence and an inhomogeneous population, and discuss the type of data that might be required to use them predictively. The model introduced here can be used to understand and predict health behaviours, and we therefore believe that it provides a valuable tool for informing policies to combat disease.

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Pulsford, Richard Michael. "Sedentary behaviour and health." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/15679.

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The term sedentary refers to a distinct class of activities which involve sitting or reclining and which do not cause an increase in energy expenditure above resting levels. Observational studies have reported positive associations between both sedentary time and the number of hours spent sitting per day, with risk for a number of health outcomes that are independent of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The total time spent sitting can be amassed in different patterns (long and short bouts) and different types (watching TV, driving, working at a computer) that may have differential associations with health outcomes as well as different confounders that have yet to be properly explored. Further, limitations in current measures used to quantify sedentary behaviour and the possibility of residual confounding, mean that it is unclear whether the posture of sitting itself represents a risk to health or whether sitting is actually a proxy for low energy expenditure. This thesis aimed to examine; the associations between five separate sitting types with health risk, the prevalence of sitting behaviour in England, and the biological mechanisms which might underpin the observed negative health consequences of sitting. Using data from the Whitehall II cohort study the first four studies of this thesis examined prospective associations between sitting at work, TV viewing, non-TV leisure time sitting, total leisure time sitting (TV and non-TV leisure sitting combined) and total sitting from work and leisure, with four health outcomes; mortality, cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes and obesity. No association between any of the sitting indicators with risk for mortality or incident cardiovascular disease was found. TV viewing and total sitting were associated with an increase in risk for type II diabetes following adjustment for sociodemographic covariates and MVPA, but were attenuated following further adjustment for body mass index. None of the five sitting indicators were associated with incident obesity but being obese prior to the measurement of sitting was associated with the number of reported hours of daily TV viewing. The final study of this thesis examined the acute effect of sustained versus interrupted sitting on glucose and insulin metabolism. Interrupting sitting with repeated short bouts of light intensity walking significantly improved insulin sensitivity while repeated short bouts of standing did not. Sitting is a prevalent behaviour in English adults and varies by socio-demographic characteristics. Previously reported associations between sitting time and health risk may be confounded by light intensity physical activity and obesity. The absence of an effect of repeated standing bouts (a change in posture without a change in energy expenditure) suggests that promoting reductions in sitting without also promoting increases in movement are not likely to lead to improvements in metabolic health. New measures of sedentary behaviour are required that can be used in population studies, and can discriminate between the posture of sitting, standing and very low levels of physical activity of a light intensity. This would permit further studies that are needed to clarify the precise nature of the association between sitting and health.

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Hirvonen, N. (Noora). "Health information matters:everyday health information literacy and behaviour in relation to health behaviour and physical health among young men." Doctoral thesis, Oulun yliopisto, 2015. http://urn.fi/urn:isbn:9789526210407.

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Abstract This study increases the understanding of young men’s everyday health information literacy and behaviour in relation to their health behaviour, physical health, and socio-demographic characteristics. The conceptual framework of the study builds upon theories of information behaviour, practices and literacy, and health behaviour change. The empirical data were collected with questionnaires (n = 3,293) and physiological measurements (n = 3,063) in 2010 to 2013 at the Finnish Defence Forces’ call-ups, where a population-based sample of young Finnish men could be reached. Everyday health information literacy was studied using a previously developed screening tool, and with a focus on its relationship with health behaviour and physical fitness. Information behaviour was investigated in the context of physical activity, and in relation to men’s readiness to change exercise behaviour according to the Transtheoretical Model. Statistical analyses of the data include multivariate regression analyses, and a critical realist approach was adopted in interpreting the results. The results show that general upper secondary education and higher socio-economic position of a parent increase the likelihood of good health information literacy. Health information literacy is positively associated with health-promoting behaviour and health independent of socio-economic position; confidence in one’s abilities to find, evaluate and use health information is associated with regular exercise and healthy eating habits, and good physical fitness, for example. In the context of physical activity, the practices used to acquire information are associated with the stage of exercise behaviour change. Men in the maintenance stage seek information most actively. Information avoidance, in turn, is connected to low health information literacy, not to the stage of change. The study provides novel knowledge on healthy young people’s everyday health information literacy and behaviour, and on their relationship. It is among the first to investigate health information behaviour in the stages of behaviour change and health information literacy in connection with objectively measured fitness. It proposes a framework for future studies on the relationship between health information literacy and behaviour, and health information outcomes. The results may be utilised when designing tailored health communications and health information literacy education
Tiivistelmä Tutkimus lisää ymmärrystä siitä, millainen yhteys nuorten miesten arkielämän terveystiedon lukutaidolla ja terveystietokäyttäytymisellä on terveyskäyttäytymiseen, fyysiseen terveyteen ja sosiodemografisiin tekijöihin. Sen käsitteellinen viitekehys rakentuu tietokäyttäytymisen ja -käytäntöjen, terveystiedon lukutaidon sekä terveyskäyttäytymisen muutoksen teorioille. Tutkimuksen aineisto kerättiin kyselyillä (n = 3 293) ja fysiologisilla mittauksilla (n = 3 063) vuosina 2010–2013 Puolustusvoimien Oulun alueen kutsuntatilaisuuksissa, joissa oli mahdollista saavuttaa suomalaisten nuorten miesten väestöpohjainen otos. Terveystiedon lukutaitoa arvioitiin aiemmin kehitetyllä seulontavälineellä sekä suhteessa terveyskäyttäytymiseen ja fyysiseen kuntoon. Terveystietokäyttäytymistä tarkasteltiin liikunnan kontekstissa ja suhteessa transteoreettisen mallin mukaiseen liikuntakäyttäytymisen muutosvalmiuteen. Aineistot analysoitiin tilastollisesti monimuuttujamenetelmin, ja tuloksia tulkittiin kriittisen realismin näkökulmasta. Tulokset osoittavat, että lukiokoulutus ja korkeassa sosioekonomisessa asemassa oleva vanhempi lisäävät hyvän arkielämän terveystiedon lukutaidon todennäköisyyttä. Terveystiedon lukutaito on positiivisesti yhteydessä terveyttä edistäviin elintapoihin ja terveyteen sosioekonomisesta asemasta riippumatta. Luottamus omiin kykyihin löytää, arvioida ja ymmärtää terveystietoa on yhteydessä muun muassa säännölliseen liikuntaan ja terveellisiin syömistottumuksiin sekä hyvään fyysiseen kuntoon. Liikunnan kontekstissa terveystietokäytännöt kytkeytyvät käyttäytymisen muutosvaiheeseen. Aktiivisimmin liikuntatietoa hankkivat liikuntakäyttäytymisen ylläpitovaiheessa olevat. Tiedon välttäminen sen sijaan on yhteydessä alhaiseen terveystiedon lukutaitoon, ei muutosvaiheeseen. Tutkimus tuottaa uutta tietoa nuorten, terveiden ihmisten arkielämän terveystiedon lukutaidosta ja terveystietokäyttäytymisestä sekä niiden suhteesta toisiinsa. Uutta on myös terveystietokäytäntöjen tutkiminen terveyskäyttäytymisen muutosvaiheissa ja terveystiedon lukutaidon tarkastelu suhteessa objektiivisesti mitattuun fyysiseen kuntoon. Tutkimuksessa esitetään viitekehys tuleville tutkimuksille terveystiedon lukutaidon ja tietokäytäntöjen vaikutuksesta terveyteen. Tulokset ovat hyödynnettävissä räätälöidyn terveysviestinnän ja terveystiedon lukutaidon koulutuksen suunnittelussa

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Forster, Martin. "Economics, inequalities in health and health-related behaviour." Thesis, University of York, 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.245870.

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GYASI, Razak Mohammed. "Ageing, health and health-seeking behaviour in Ghana." Digital Commons @ Lingnan University, 2018. https://commons.ln.edu.hk/otd/41.

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Rapid ageing of populations globally following reductions in fertility and mortality rates has become one of the most significant demographic features in recent decades. As a low- and middle-income country, Ghana has one of the largest and fastest growing older populations in sub-Saharan Africa, where ageing often occurs ahead of socioeconomic development and provision of health and social care services. Older persons in these contexts often face greater health challenges and various life circumstances including role loss, retirement, irregular incomes and widowhood, which can increase their demand for both formal and informal support. This thesis addresses the effects of the socio-political structure, informal social support and micro-level factors on health and health-seeking behaviour among community-dwelling older persons in Ghana. The theoretical perspectives draw on political economy of ageing, social convoy theory and Andersen5s behavioural model. Using multi-stage stratified cluster cross-sectional survey data of older cohorts (N= 1,200) aged 50 years and older, multivariate generalised Poisson and logit regression models estimated the associations among variables and interaction terms. Although Ghana’s national health insurance scheme (NHIS) enrollment was significantly associated with increased log count of healthcare use (β = 0.237), the relationship was largely a function of health status. Moreover, the NHIS was related with improved time from onset of illness to healthcare use (β = 1.347). However, even with NHIS enrollment, the intermediate (OR = 1.468) and richer groups (OR = 2.149) had higher odds of seeking healthcare compared with the poor. In addition, features of meaningful informal social support including contacts with family and friends, social participation and remittances significantly improved psychological wellbeing and health services utilisation. Somewhat counter-intuitively, spousal cohabitation was associated with decreased health services use (OR = 0.999). Whilst self-rated health revealed a strong positive association with functional status of older persons (fair SRH: β = 1.346; poor SRH: β = 2.422), the relationship differed by gender and also was moderated by marital status for women but not men. The employed and urban residents somewhat surprisingly had lower odds of formal healthcare use. The findings support the hypotheses that interactive impacts of aspects of structural and functional social support and removal of catastrophic healthcare costs are particularly important in older persons’ psychological health and health service utilisation. Nevertheless, Ghana’s NHIS currently apparently lacks the capacity to improve equitable attendance at health facility between poor and non-poor. In contributing to the public health and social policy discourse, this study proposes that, whilst policies to ensure improved health status of older people are recommended, multidimensional social support and NHIS policy should be properly resourced and strengthened so they may act as critical tools for improving health and health services utilization of this marginalized and vulnerable older people in Ghana. Moreover, policies targeting and addressing economic empowerment including universal social pensions and welfare payments should be initiated and maintained to complement the NHIS for older people. The achievement of age-relevant policies and Universal Health Coverage (UCH) as advocated by WHO could be enhanced by adopting some of these suggestions.

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Chater, Angel Marie. "Children's health perception and health behaviour : an intervention approach." Thesis, University of Roehampton, 2006. https://pure.roehampton.ac.uk/portal/en/studentthesis/children’s-health-perception-and-health-behaviour(a06c6553-ed09-4a4c-acbe-b30c865d9292).html.

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The principal aim of this two-study research programme was to investigate the contribution of psychological factors to health behaviours in children, and the intention to perform them. The investigation focused on healthy eating, regular physical activity, avoiding smoking cigarettes and avoiding drinking alcohol. The first study examined children’s individual cognitions, past behaviour and perception of their own and their parents’ health behaviours. Drawing from Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986) and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1985), the aim of study 1 was to investigate the extent to which these psychological factors could predict children’s future intentions towards the above behaviours. The second study aimed to identify if a child’s behavioural intention was a significant predictor of their actual health behaviour. Furthermore, it aimed to develop and run a series of theoretically based intervention workshops drawing from Prospect Theory (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979; 1982) and the Health Action Process Approach (Schwarzer, 1992) to promote health behaviours. A cross-sectional quantitative survey design was used in the first study. Data was collected from 529 school-aged children within year groups 7 (11-12 years) and 10 (14-15 years) using an instrument specifically designed for this research, named the ‘Health Perceptions Questionnaire’. The second study employed an experimental repeated measures 2x3 factorial design. With a sub-sample of study 1 (N = 72) it investigated interactions between pre and post intentions and behaviours, and the possible effects of two framed interventions compared to a control condition. Results from study 1 indicate that the most significant predictors of health behaviour intention are behavioural importance, past behaviour, behaviour-specific self-efficacy, attitude and outcome expectancies. Many of the study variables were found to differ between year group and gender. Study 2 revealed there were no significant differences in behavioural intentions between groups post-intervention. Moreover, a limited effect was observed in health behaviour performance with a significant interaction only found between intervention conditions in healthy eating behaviours. Significant differences were found between healthy eating and regular exercise behaviours from time 1 to time 2 of the research programme. Furthermore, behavioural intentions were found to be significant predictors of health behaviours.

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Costin, Graham A. "Skeletal health education : effects of an educational intervention on health behaviour and health behaviour indicators of adolescent girls." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 1998.

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Education provides the critical link between the acquisition of knowledge about the determinants of skeletal health and the availability of that knowledge for application by the wider population. Hence it is one strategy with the capacity to reduce the increasing worldwide incidence of skeletal health problems, in particular osteoporosis. An expanding aged population requiring increasing care and support for osteoporosis-induced problems and suffering indicates the need for a concerted response incorporating education. Although osteoporosis is typically associated with old age, the nature of precipitating factors causing bone resorption to exceed that of accretion, and how these factors might be influenced to alter such outcomes are incompletely understood. However, there is increasing evidence, largely from cross-sectional studies, showing that environmental factors such as physical activity and nutrition play a significant role in optimising the genetic potential for the development of peak bone mass. There is also growing speculation that interventions which promote these factors during childhood and adolescence may increase peak bone mass, thus delaying the development of porotic bone. Al though the optimal dose levels for maximising the effects of these factors have yet to be established, there is sufficient evidence to support the manipulation of these factors to enhance bone accumulation. Therefore, the general aim of this thesis was to examine the effects of a skeletal health educational intervention on bone-enhancing lifestyle practices of adolescent girls. A definite association between skeletal health education and the adoption of lifestyle practices regarded as beneficial to bone growth and development had not been established in the literature. Therefore, the project needed to develop an original educational intervention program focused on these practices, prior to implementation and evaluation. Based on Social Cognitive Theory and current health education practice, this program emphasised the adoption of specific health behaviours and the outcomes, therefore, in addition to the intervention outcomes, the implementation process was assessed. Responses to this process were obtained from the adolescent girl participants and the teacher-observers using questionnaires and focus group discussions. The respondents found the program and its application very effective and beneficial. The effect of educational interventions on related interaction between mother /daughter couples who participate in the interventions together has not been established in the literature. Therefore, a small group of mothers and their adolescent daughters participated in a separate implementation of the program. Over the subsequent four weeks, they recorded the nature and frequency of interactions which related to the skeletal health program. This study revealed that joint participation in the program resulted in several forms of cooperative interaction. Although this involved moderate levels of active interaction in physical activity and food organization sessions, the dominant areas were verbal communication and shared eating experiences at meal times. In summary, health behaviours were maintained at or above recommended levels during the intervention and over the subsequent six months. Knowledge and body image satisfaction were the only health behaviour indicators which increased significantly during the intervention and this increase was largely retained six months later. From a curriculum evaluation perspective, the positive results for both the process and outcome measures of the intervention supported its utility. The substantial amount of mother/daughter interaction resulting from their joint participation in the intervention indicates the potential of this such initiatives to enhance educational outcomes,development of the knowledge, attitude, belief and skill indicators of these behaviours. The program was implemented in seven weekly sessions of 45 minutes to 13 year old adolescent girls in two similar girls catholic colleges. The intervention group of 97 girls from three year 8 classes at one college represented the total cohort of that age group. The comparison group comprised one year 8 class of 32 girls from the second college. Data on the health behaviour and health behaviour indicators were collected from this convenience sample of 129 adolescent girls using a pre-test/post-test/follow-up design. An examination of results from qualitative and quantitative data revealed differential intervention impacts. No significant intervention effects (P < 0.05) were found for the important bone influencing behaviours of calcium intake, physical activity participation, alcohol consumption, cigarette use and caffeine intake. However, the girls commenced the study with calcium intake and physical activity participation at or above recommended levels, and extremely low drug usage. This pattern of behaviour was maintained throughout the study. The health behaviour indicator results revealed that the intervention girls acquired significantly more skeletal health knowledge than their comparison group (P < 0.001) and that this knowledge was largely retained over the following six months. This finding suggests that the intervention was very effective in establishing knowledge needed as a foundation for any further skeletal health initiatives. Body image satisfaction also increased significantly (P < 0.05) and much of this increase was retained six months later. However, when an importance dimension was added to this measure of satisfaction, the significant, between-group difference was not sustained. Self-efficacy for physical activity and for sensible eating did not show significant between-group differences. Similarly changes in the expected outcomes and perceived barriers for these behaviours did not vary significantly between the two groups of girls.

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Pryce, Joanna. "Working hours, health and behaviour." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.415020.

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Wadlow, Sarah Jane. "Conditions for health behaviour change." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14325.

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Bibliography: leaves 75-80.
The impact of an academic course in health psychology on students' health behaviour is assessed. It was contended that this course motivated students to improve their personal health behaviours, as it contained all the elements necessary for persuasion. It was hypothesised that (a) self-reported health behaviour would improve from pre- to post-course assessment, (b) any improvements would not have been maintained at the follow-up evaluation, (c) the components of the Health Belief Model (HBM) would predict the various health behaviours. The subjects were all third year psychology students at the University of Cape Town, attending an optional course in health psychology. They completed a self-report health behaviour questionnaire (Lifestyle Evaluation Questionnaire) prior to commencement of the course and again at the end of the six week course. At a follow-up, eight months after the completion of the course, (86) students who had completed both previous questions were mailed another (LEQ) questionnaire. They were also requested to complete a questionnaire (based on the HBM), assessing their beliefs about health behaviour (the Lifestyle Beliefs Questionnaire). 42 (49%) subjects returned the questionnaires. At-test of mean differences was conducted to determine if the four Lifestyle Evaluation Questionnaire (LEQ) factors - food, exercise, drugs and care - had changed significantly over time. Exercise, food and care behaviour had improved significantly from pre- to post-course assessment to follow-up (p < .05). Hypothesis one was, therefore, partially supported, and hypothesis two was not supported by the findings. A number of explanations for these findings are proposed. In short, it appears that exercising is regarded as more enjoyable and beneficial by a young population than other preventive health behaviours. The HBM components of benefits, barriers, susceptibility, motivation, cues to action, attitude, and enabling variables were regressed against the four LEQ factors to determine if these HBM components could predict the health behaviours. Benefits predicted exercise and drug use, barriers predicted exercise behaviour, and susceptibility predicted drug use. These three HBM components were found by Janz & Becker's (1984) review to be the most powerful predictors of health behaviours. Limitations of this "naturalistic" study are discussed and it is concluded that persuasive communication is necessary to motivate young, healthy adults to practise positive health behaviours.

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Kobayashi, L. C. "Health literacy during ageing and implications for health behaviour." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2016. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1474917/.

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Ageing involves rising challenges for health and well-being. At the same time, older age has been associated with having low health literacy. Health literacy is essential for comprehension of the complex information that older adults need to make health decisions. Health literacy and its health behavioural outcomes during ageing have never been examined longitudinally. This thesis reviews the literature and uses data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing to address these gaps. Study 1, a systematic review and meta-analysis, shows that health literacy skills based on active learning may decline with age, while vocabulary-based skills are stable with age. Study 2 shows that health literacy declines in about one-fifth of English adults aged over 50 years, and that cognitive function and decline mostly explain ageing-related health literacy decline. Men, ethnic minorities, and adults with no education and in low occupational classes are the most vulnerable to losing health literacy during ageing. Study 3 demonstrates that sustained Internet use and engagement in social activities may help to prevent ageing-related health literacy decline, independently of cognitive decline. Study 4 shows that low health literacy is a barrier to participation in colorectal cancer screening, an effect mostly explained by cognitive function around the time of screening. Study 5 explores the relationships between health literacy and health behaviours over eight years, finding that health literacy may help to promote sustained regular physical activity during ageing, independently of cognitive function and physical health. Results demonstrate that health literacy is sensitive to ageing, and that cognitive function and decline play a significant role in health literacy performance at older ages. Health literacy appears to be a resource that is maintained during ageing by socially advantaged adults through specific social practices, and they use it to improve and protect their health. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.

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Gherbrehiwet, Tesfamicael. "Lay logic : health conceptions, perceived health status , health locus of control, health value and health behaviour of Eritrean immigrants." Thesis, University of Southampton, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.294691.

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Mantzari, Eleni. "Financial incentives for health-behaviour change : assessing behavioural and cognitive consequences." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 2013. https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/financial-incentives-for-healthbehaviour-change(b4ca355a-4c2e-4456-9133-16703ce878e8).html.

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Offering individuals financial incentives for changing their health-related behaviour is one possible strategy for improving health and reducing morbidity and premature mortality. However, several important aspects of the behavioural and cognitive consequences of this type of intervention remain unclear. First, there is uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of financial incentives in achieving sustained changes in repeated health behaviours, as well as of the factors that might modify any effects. Second, the variables that might confound the impact of incentives on health-related behaviours remain unexplored. Third, the speculated unintended consequences of financial incentives on cognitive processes, including information processing and decision-making, have yet to be examined systematically. This thesis addresses these uncertainties. Study 1 is a systematic review and meta-analysis aiming to estimate the effectiveness of financial incentives in achieving sustained change across repeated health-behaviours (smoking cessation, healthier eating, including reduced alcohol consumption and increased physical activity) and to examine the factors that modify any impacts. Findings indicate that although financial incentives changed repeated health-behaviours, their role in reducing non-communicable disease burden is potentially limited, given effects were not sustained beyond three months after incentive removal. Results also highlight the role of recipients’ deprivation level in modifying incentive impacts on behaviour overall, as well as that of incentive value in modifying impacts on smoking cessation. Study 2 is a qualitative study exploring the variables that might confound the impact of financial incentives on health-related behaviours. The study describes and compares the stop-smoking experiences of pregnant smokers’ who were incentivised for smoking cessation with those of women who were not. Results highlight the need to be cautious about attributing the effects of financial-incentive schemes to incentives per se. Given that incentive schemes are complex behavioural interventions, their impacts could derive from indirect influences, mediated by changes to some aspects of the process involved in their delivery, including the provision of increased support. Study 3 is a randomised controlled trial aiming to estimate further the effectiveness of financial incentives in changing health-related behaviours, by assessing their impact on uptake of the HPV vaccinations. The study also aims to examine the modifying role of recipients’ deprivation level and to addresses the uncertainty regarding the speculated unintended consequences of incentives on decision-making processes. Results indicate that although incentives increased vaccination completion rates, impacts were not modified by recipients’ deprivation level and uptake remained lower than the national target, necessitating consideration of other ways of achieving it. The quality of decisions to get vaccinated was unaffected by the offer of incentives. Knowledge of the vaccination’s side-effects, however, was not assessed in this study. Findings therefore, are not conclusive about the impact of incentives on the processing of risk-relevant information. Study 4 is a web-based experiment addressing the uncertainty regarding the speculated unintended consequences of financial incentives on information processing. It aims to determine the impact of incentives on the processing of risk-relevant information associated with an incentivised behaviour with potential adverse effects, as assessed by participants’ perceived risk related to engaging in the behaviour and their knowledge of its side-effects. The findings provide no evidence for the unintended consequences of incentives on the processing of risk-information. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the main findings and related implications for practice, policy and future research.

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Brown, Sally Rachael. "Men's health beliefs and behaviour in relation to heart attacks." Thesis, University of Hull, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.342972.

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Brown, Daniel. "Investigating the Role of Past Behaviour and Habits in Health Behaviour." Thesis, Griffith University, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/395107.

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Globally, there is a significant burden of disease due to unhealthy patterns of behaviours. Poor quality nutrition, over-exposure to the sun, insufficient oral hygiene practices, and excessive alcohol consumption are but a few examples of health-related behaviours that affect mortality and quality of life. To effectively modify people’s health behaviour, mechanisms of change must be isolated and tested. Previous research has often used theories of social cognition to understand, explain, and predict health behaviour. More recently, however, researchers are attempting to overcome the notable criticisms of such theories; for example, the tendency to focus on conscious, deliberative processes. To this end, understanding the role of non-conscious, automatic processes have come under the spotlight. The current thesis attempts to contribute to this literature by addressing three main aims. First, this thesis aimed to understand the effect of past behaviour in an integrated, dual-phase model of health behaviour that focuses on multiple deliberative processes. Second, this thesis aimed to explain the effects of past behaviour on future behaviour, with a focus on the role of habit. The final aim was to explore lay representations of habit. As a thesis presented by a series of publications, the four papers that comprise this program of research are presented as journal manuscripts. Paper 1 aimed to understand the effect of past behaviour in an integrated, multi-theory, dual phase model of health behaviour, exploring fruit and vegetable consumption of Australian heavy goods vehicle drivers (n = 212). The model integrated and tested constructs from self-determination theory (i.e., autonomous motivation), the theory of planned behaviour (i.e., attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and intention), and the health action process approach (i.e., action planning and coping planning), with the addition of past behaviour. Structural equation modelling identified the relative contributions of motivation, social cognition, and volition to the prediction of fruit and vegetable consumption, one week later. Importantly, past behaviour was shown to attenuate model effects, particularly to the intention-behaviour relationship. This study explicitly demonstrated the effect of past on future behaviour and found significant residual variance unexplained by the conscious, deliberative processes. To address the second aim of the thesis by seeking to understand which elements of past behaviour exert influence on future behaviour, Paper 2 tested a dual-process model that incorporated constructs that underpinned reasoned action and automatic constructs across three distinct health behaviours and populations: binge drinking in university students (n = 319), dental flossing in adults (n = 251), and parental sun safety behaviour of children 2 – 5 years of age (n = 184). Furthermore, Paper 2 sought to use a measure of past behaviour that combined long-term, recent, and routine patterns of behaviour. This was used to best model potentially distinct patterns of past behaviour; but, to also overcome criticisms that argue past-future behaviour effects are inflated by shared-method variance. The study adopted a prospective design with two waves of data collection, spaced six weeks apart. Structural equation modelling found that the automatic, but not reasoned action constructs, mediated the past-to-future behaviour relationship across all three behaviours. In further addressing the second aim of the thesis, Paper 3 aimed to explore the role of two different types of habits (i.e., goal-directed and counter-intentional) simultaneously with a reasoned action measure (i.e., intention) in two health-promoting nutrition behaviours (i.e., eating the recommended serves of fruits and vegetables and restricting sugar sweetened beverages) in two populations (i.e., middle school students aged 11 – 14 years (n = 266) and university students aged 17 – 24 years (n = 340)). Results revealed different patterns of effects whereby intentions predicted both behaviours in both samples and goal-directed habits and counter-intentional habits only predicted fruit and vegetable consumption in the middle-school sample. This study highlighted how automatic processes may play a significant role in explaining and predicting health behaviours. Of note, in Paper 3, the habit for each behaviour that was measured using an avoidance-orientation (i.e., the habit to restrict or avoid) did not produce a significant effect. The non-significant effects could indicate that such habits do not play a role in health behaviour or, alternatively, demonstrate the participants had difficulty understanding and interpreting such questions. Understanding how the general population interprets the meaning of habit is therefore useful; yet, has rarely been explored. Paper 4, in addressing the last aim of the thesis, sought to understand lay representations of habit using qualitative methodology across two studies. The first study used an online, open-ended questionnaire to elicit the most salient features of habit. The second study used interviews and focus groups to explore a more in-depth understanding of lay representations of habit by exploring what lay people identify as the important features of habit and which behaviours they identify as habitual. Paper 4 found that, overall, there were many consistencies with a lay and scientific representation of habit (e.g., automatic, frequently engaged). However, despite being able to identify specific features of habit, lay people, at times, identified habitual behaviours that were inconsistent with their definition. In particular, lay people often used the word habit to mean clustered, repetitive patterns of behaviour, synonymous with routine, or as something that is characteristic or typical of them. This highlights potential problems with how lay people may answer self-reported measures of habit and how they evaluate interventions seeking to modify habits. Furthermore, as researchers continue to explore other automatic and implicit processes (e.g., counter-intentional habits or implicit attitudes and motivations) there must be a coherent and consistent definition to distinguish between them. Overall, the findings of this thesis make an important contribution to the health and behavioural medicine literature by contributing to understanding the role of past behaviour and habit in explaining and predicting health behaviour. The research first corroborated the attenuation effects of past behaviour on future behaviour in an integrated model of health behaviour. It was demonstrated that a significant portion of variance was left unexplained when only reasoned, deliberative processes are used in models of behaviour. The research then demonstrated that the residual variance of past-to-future behaviour was accounted for by automatic constructs (i.e., habit) in three distinct behaviours and populations. This was further expanded by exploring the role of two constructs representing automatic processes, goal-directed and counter-intentional habits, alongside intention. The inconsistent effects across behaviours and samples highlighted that little is known about how lay people represent habits, which likely influences how they interpret measures of habit. Therefore, the final paper qualitatively explored lay representations of habit, demonstrating that while there are some consistencies with a scientific understanding of habit, there remains a number of discrepancies. The findings of this thesis contribute to understanding the effects of past behaviour and habit on health behaviour. These findings highlight that further research is needed in enhancing the scientific conceptualisation of habit and in further understanding the conditions in which constructs representing non-conscious and automatic processes mediate the past-to-future behaviour relationship compared with constructs representing reasoned-action processes.
Thesis (Professional Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology (PhD ClinPsych)
School of Applied Psychology
Griffith Health
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Leach, Lloyd L. "The impact of multiple behaviour health intervention strategies on coronary heart disease risk, health-related physical fitness, and health-risk behaviours in first year university students." University of the Western Cape, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/5302.

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Philosophiae Doctor - PhD
Background: There is compelling body of evidence that coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors are present in people of all ages. The extent to which the problem exists in university students in South Africa (SA) has not been confirmed in the literature. Furthermore, the effects of physical activity, physical fitness, diet and health behaviours on CHD risk factors has not been studied extensively in SA and needs further investigation. Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the impact of multiple behaviour health intervention strategies on CHD risk, health-related physical fitness(HRPF) and healthrisk behaviours (HRB) in first year students at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). It was hypothesized that exposure to various health behavioural interventions would reduce CHD risk factors in subjects at moderate risk, and improve health-related physical fitness, as well as health-risk behaviours.Methods and Study Design: An experimental study design was used wherein subjects at moderate risk for CHD were identified and exposed to multiple health behavioural interventions for 16 weeks in order to determine the impact of the various interventions on CHD risk, health-related physical fitness and health-risk behaviours. Population and Sample: The target population consisted of first year students at UWC aged 18 – 44 years who were screened and a sample of 173 subjects were identified as being at moderate risk for CHD. Next, the subjects were randomly assigned to a control and four treatment groups, namely, health information, diet, exercise, and a multiple group that included all three treatments. The intervention, based upon Prochaska‟s Transtheoretical Model of behaviour change, continued for a period of 16 weeks and, thereafter, the subjects were retested. Data Collection Process: Subject information was obtained using self-reported questionnaires, namely, the physical activity readiness questionnaire (PAR-Q), the stages of readiness to change questionnaire (SRCQ), the international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ), and the healthy lifestyle questionnaire (HLQ), together with physical and hematological (blood) measurements. The measurements taken before and after the intervention programme were the following:• Coronary heart disease risk factors, namely: family history, cigarette smoking, hypertension, obesity, dyslipidemia, impaired fasting glucose and a sedentary lifestyle; • Health-related physical fitness, namely: body composition, cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and flexibility; and • Health-risk behaviours, namely: physical activity, nutrition, managing stress, avoiding destructive habits, practising safe sex, adopting safety habits, knowing firstaid, personal health habits, using medical advice, being an informed consumer, protecting the environment and mental well-being. Types of interventions: A control group was used in which subjects did not receive any treatment. The health behavioural interventions were arranged into four groups of subjects that received either the health information, diet, exercise or a combination of all three individual treatments. Statistical analyses of data: In the analyses of the data, the procedure followed was that where the outcome variable was approximately normally distributed, the groups were compared using a two-sample t-test. For outcomes with a highly non-normal distribution or ordinal level data, the nonparametric Wilcoxon Rank Sum test was used for group comparisons. To account for baseline differences, repeated measures analysis of variance was used. In the case where nonparametric methods were appropriate, analysis was done using Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel (CMH) methodology stratifying on the baseline values. For the case of nominal level outcomes, groups were compared by Chi-square tests for homogeneity of proportions. When baseline values needed to be incorporated into the analysis, this was done using CMH methodology. Main Outcome Measures: The main outcome measures tested in the study related to the three areas of investigation, namely: • Modifiable CHD risk factors: systolic and diastolic blood pressure, cigarette smoking, total cholesterol (TC) concentration, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentration, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentration, triglycerides, fasting glucose, body mass index, waist circumference, waist-hip ratio and physical inactivity; • Health-related physical fitness: body mass, percent body fat, absolute body fat, percent lean body mass, absolute lean body mass, the multi-stage shuttle run, handgrip strength, repeated sit-ups in a minute, and the sit-and-reach test; and • Health-risk behaviours: physical activity, nutrition, managing stress, avoiding destructive habits, practising safe sex, adopting safety habits, knowing first aid, personal health habits, using medical advice, being an informed consumer, protecting the environment and mental well-being. Results: The results showed significant decreases for body mass, waist and hip circumferences, resting heart rate, systolic blood pressure, cigarette smoking and a sedentary lifestyle (p < .05) primarily in the multiple group. No significant differences were recorded for blood biochemistry, however, favourable trends were observed in the lipoprotein ratios. For health-related physical fitness, only the multiple group showed significant (p < .005) improvements in predicted maximal oxygen consumption ( O2max), body composition, muscular strength and muscular endurance. The exercise group also recorded significant differences in muscular endurance. In all groups, including the controls, no significant differences were found for stature, waist-hip ratio, and flexibility at pre- and post-test. Overall, the participants reflected positive health behaviours, especially for managing stress, avoiding destructive habits, practising safe sex, adopting safety habits, personal health habits and mental well-being at pre- and post-test. The intervention programme had a corrective influence on providing the participants with a more realistic perception of their level of physical activity and nutritional habits. The participants scored poorly on being informed consumers and for recycling waste both at pre- and post-test. A substantial net reduction in CHD risk factors as well as in cumulative risk was achieved with treatment that impacted positively on the re-stratification of participants at moderate risk. In terms of treatment efficacy, the dietary intervention appeared to be the least effective (10.91%), with health information and exercise sharing similar levels of efficacy (32.81% and 33.93%, respectively) and, the combined treatment in the multiple group stood out as the most effective treatment (50.00%), and supported the hypothesis of the study. Conclusions: The net and cumulative decline in CHD risk factors was substantial with treatment and was directly related to the number of treatments administered. The evidence suggests that such multiple health behaviour interventions when implemented through a university-based setting have substantial benefits on reducing CHD risk and may be of considerable public health benefit. Key messages • Despite being a relatively educated population, a substantial number of first year university students are at considerable heart disease risk. • Physical inactivity constitutes one of the main CHD risk factors amongst first year students and, together with smoking, place many of them at moderate CHD risk. • The effectiveness of health behavioural strategies designed to modify lifestyle and prevent coronary heart disease is supported by this study.

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Presseau, Justin. "Goal conflict and goal facilitation : theory development and application in preventive health-related behaviour and health professional behaviour." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.540459.

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Daily life often involves the pursuit of numerous goal-directed behaviours (GDBs) which can compete for limited resources, leading to goal conflict, and complement each other, leading to goal facilitation. The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) has been applied to understand preventive health-related behaviour and health professional behaviour, focusing on a single GDB at a time. This thesis presents six studies which investigated how goal facilitation and goal conflict contribute to understanding individual’s engagement in PA and health professionals’ provision of PA advice, alongside the TPB. Theory-based semi-structured interviews conducted with general medical practitioners and community-based adults demonstrated that GDBs facilitating and conflicting with providing PA advice and engaging in PA are readily identifiable and elicited independently of control beliefs. A prospective study with students demonstrated that goal facilitation predicted self-reported PA two months later, controlling for intention and perceived behavioural control (PBC). A second prospective study with students showed that baseline perceived goal facilitation and daily time spent in conflicting GDBs (assessed using daily diaries) predicted seven days of accelerometer-assessed PA, controlling for intention and PBC. A theory-based process evaluation was conducted alongside a new pay-for-performance target for providing lifestyle advice introduced in primary care. While no changes were observed on goal conflict, goal facilitation, or TPB constructs, the study demonstrated a potentially useful method for conducting theory-based process evaluation alongside natural experiments. A prospective study with GPs and nurses showed that goal facilitation and conflict predicted providing PA advice six months later, controlling for intention and PBC. Overall, this thesis supports the consideration of goal facilitation and goal conflict when predicting preventive health-related and health professional behaviour.

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Cambridge, Victoria Charlotte. "Reward processing in health harming behaviour : neural and behavioural responding in obesity." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.648295.

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Cohen, Bonnie Lynn. "Health behaviour survey of secondary school students." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2000. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape4/PQDD_0024/MQ51056.pdf.

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Hart, Jo. "Health behaviour advice : cognitive and educational influences." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 2006. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk/R?func=search-advanced-go&find_code1=WSN&request1=AAIU203981.

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A systematic review showed that the four most common health behaviours studied are smoking, drinking alcohol, diet and exercise. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was adopted as a framework for investigating the use of HBA, and use of a methodology called Discriminant Content Validity enabled the validation of a direct estimation method of assessing TPB cognitions, which was then used in each of the following studies. A cross-sectional study with students at two British medical schools, of their intention to give HBA, demonstrated that TPB cognitions successfully predicted intention, as well as allowing comparison between the constructs. Medical students in the early stages of their training had lower perceived behavioural control. An experimental study of the effect of manipulating two types of control on intention to give HBA found that higher actual control over a consultation situation increased intention and that higher personal control was also associated with higher intention. A longitudinal study of medical students during the first phase of their training showed that students displayed a pattern of polarisation, those who had initially negative beliefs became more negative over time, whilst those initially positive became more so. An observational study in a primary care setting (community pharmacy) provided more evidence for the success of the TPB in predicting HBA. Both self-report and actual advice giving behaviour were predicted by TPB constructs. A range of different methodologies and settings have been utilised to demonstrate that the TPB has an important role in predicting whether HBA is given or not, and further studies might utilise these findings to increase rates of HBA both directly and through medical education.

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Rennie, Laura J. "The role of perspective in visualising health behaviours : effects on motivation and behaviour." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.555107.

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Recent research has shown that using a third-person (observer's) perspective to visualise a behaviour (voting, studying) results in stronger motivation to engage in the visualised behaviour than when the first-person (own) perspective is used (Libby, Shaeffer, Eibach, & Slemmer, 2007; Vasquez & Buehler, 2007). This thesis was concerned with whether this effect could be replicated in a health context- whether the perspective used when visualising a health behaviour affected motivation and subsequent behaviour. Experiments 1 and 2 found, in contrast to previous research, that participants who used the first-person perspective to visualise a behaviour (blood donation, smoking cessation) were more motivated to engage in the visualised behaviour than those who used the third-person perspective. Drawing on action identification theory (Vallcher & Wegner, 1987), it was predicted that the effect of perspective on motivation was moderated by the difficulty of the visualised behaviour. Supporting this, in Experiments 3 and 4 (in which difficulty was manipulated in addition to perspective), the effect of perspective on motivation was found to be moderated by difficulty, and this effect carried over into behaviour one week later in Experiment 4. It was hypothesised that the effect of perspective on motivation was mediated by the level of abstraction at which the visualised behaviour was mentally represented (in accordance with construalleve1 theory, Trope & Liberman, 2003). Although this mediation effect was not obtained in Experiment 5 when abstraction was assessed using the behavioural identification form (Vallacher & Wegner, 1987), Experiment 6 assessed the linguistic abstraction of participants' written accounts of their visualisation, and here it was found that the beneficial effect of the first-person perspective on motivation when visualising a difficult health behaviour (drinking restraint) was mediated by a more concrete representation of the behaviour, as predicted. A meta-analytical synthesis of the findings from Experiments 1 to 6 supported predictions regarding the moderating role of behaviour difficulty, and the mediating role of level of abstraction. Implications for theory and health behaviour change interventions are discussed.

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Lengerke, Thomas von. "Health behaviour and health promotion in a public health psychology : theoretical issues and empirical findings /." Frankfurt am Main ; New York : P. Lang, 2001. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb388201298.

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Morris, Benjamin Jacob. "Affective and cognitive influences on health behaviour using the theory of planned behaviour." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.578650.

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Affect is a term used to embrace the experience of emotions and feelings often contrasted, yet not entirely distinct from, conative and cognitive experience. Prominent social cognition models propose that behaviour is as a result of a deliberative process (Theory of Planned Behaviour, Ajzen, 1991; Health Belief Model, Becker, 1974). The extent to which affect, a rich and compelling source of information, is used in guiding cognitive processing or indeed having direct effects on behaviour, when making decisions of health and risk could be better understood. There is a wealth of correlational evidence beginning to indicate such a role for affect, distinct from and as a mediator of cognitive information processing. However, the often complex nature of this relationship has not been fully assessed experimentally. A series of studies assessed the impact of affective-based and cognitive-based messages in changing physical activity (PA) and binge drinking (BD). In studies 1A and 1 B the impact of affective and cognitive messages in changing PA was assessed (with one comparing images and another not comparing images). Studies 2A and 2B assessed the impact of affective and cognitive messages, framed in terms of proximal or distal consequences. One used messages focusing upon the positive consequences of engaging in PA, whereas the other used messages that focused upon the negative consequences of engaging in BD. Messages focusing upon the affective consequences of PA are shown to enhance levels of PA (studies 1A &1 B) and in study 2A the affective-based message functioned better when framed in terms of the short term consequences of behaviour. Additionally individuals high in need for affect (NfA) are shown to increase their levels of PA more so following an affective message in study 1 B. Studies 3 and 4 compared the effect of affective and cognitive messages in changing PA when behaviour is measured objectively. In study 3 messages were delivered via mobile phone, whereas in study 4 messages were delivered as in previous studies, with the addition of a self-affirmation induction. In study 3, individuals high in NfA responded most positively to. the affective- based message for total walking and total walking and running. In study 4, there were no significant differences between message types. Study 5 compared affective proximally valenced and affective distally valenced messages preceded by a self- affirmation seed, in reducing BD. For individuals high in need for cognition (NfC) an affective message was shown to increase BD and total alcohol units. Thus the broad findings of the present work indicate the value of affective messages in changing PA and BD, a number of specific issues are discussed in order to explain certain anomalous findings, and stress the potential difficulties in using affective messages to change behaviour

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Montgomery, Scott Mackay. "The relationship of unemployment with health and health behaviour in young men." Thesis, City University London, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.336792.

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Daffu-O'Reilly, Amrit Kaur. "Promoting healthy hearts among British South Asians : the effects of message framing and cultural sensitivity on health behaviour." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.582121.

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It is well documented that British South Asians (BSAs; people of South Asian origin residing in the UK) experience an elevated risk of developing coronary heart disease. The disease rate is approximately 50% higher than the national average. Many causal factors for this unfavourable risk profile have been put forward indicating that it is likely to be explained by a complex interplay of both genetic and lifestyle factors. Components of the BSA diet coupled with an inactive lifestyle have been identified as modifiable risk factors which could play a significant role in the prevention of this disease. Despite the identification of modifiable risk factors, health promotion interventions with measurable behavioural outcomes designed for this population are sparse. The testing of prevention strategies amongst this population is of vital importance. This thesis aimed to address the current gap in the literature by designing and testing a novel health promotion intervention specifically for the younger BSA population by means of a randomised controlled trial. The intervention was informed and underpinned by two prominent theories in the field of health research - prospect theory and the theory of planned behaviour. A novel variable, cultural sensitivity, was also manipulated. The intervention aimed to target change in two behaviours - the reduction of overall fat and an increase in physical activity. The intervention was informed and designed using the findings of a .systernatic review of the message framing literature (Chapter 2), a qualitative study which aimed to identify the barriers and facilitators to healthy living for BSAs (Chapter 3) and by the design and piloting of theory-driven behaviour change DVDs (Chapter 4). The findings of the research showed that the effects of message framing and cultural sensitivity are different for a) the type of behaviour being promoted (dietary vs. physical activity) and b) BSA males and females. It appears that BSA males and females respond differently to health promotion information relating to physical activity, yet no gender differences were apparent for dietary behaviours. These findings suggest that BSA males and females may require tailored approaches for health behaviour change interventions and there was evidence to suggest that there may be some utility in manipulating health information, both in terms of framing and cultural sensitivity, for the BSA audience. The findings did not provide any support for the mediating role of social cognitive variables on health behaviour change.

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Pálsdóttir, Ágústa. "Health and lifestyle : Icelanders ̕everyday life information behaviour /." Åbo : Åbo Akad. Förl. [u.a.], 2005. http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/fy0611/2006402076.html.

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Ahmad, Raheelah. "Explaining antenatal health seeking behaviour : a sensemaking perspective." Thesis, Imperial College London, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.516500.

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Schooling, Catherine Mary. "Health behaviour in a social and temporal context." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2001. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1350107/.

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Smoking, alcohol consumption, diet and exercise are sources of risk for many chronic diseases and the need to change unhealthy behaviours is now a key aspect of health promotion policies. Interventions to change adult behaviours have been unsuccessful despite, or perhaps because of, rather dramatic secular changes. Health behaviour is usually understood in terms of three different motivating forces for action, which can be categorised as individual utility, social structure and agency (i.e. engagement in a specific social and temporal context). The first two of these have been relatively well studied. The role of individual utility has been explored using a variety of expectancy-value models that relate individual psychological attributes (attitudes, beliefs and suchlike) to health behaviour. The role of social structure has been explored by studying how behaviour varies with economic circumstances (such as income or tenure) and social relationships (such as family and neighbourhood). Less well studied has been the role of agency. This thesis develops Giddens's concept of self-identity and Simmel's ideas on fashion, to provide an operationalisation of agency. The concept of image is used to link the individual's presentation of self and the appearance of an activity, in terms of underlying attributes such as conformity, gender-identity, sociability and asceticism. Considerations of image provide a potential explanation as to why some people might be more attracted to one activity than another. The concept of status seeking is used to explore why some people are motivated to follow new trends more quickly than others. This operationalisation of the role of agency in health behaviour is tested by exploring the relationship between all these potential motivating forces (individual utility, social structure and agency) and the initiation of and change in 4 specific health behaviours (smoking, drinking, diet and exercise), using data from the 1946 national birth cohort. The 1946 cohort provides a unique opportunity to explore these relationships because it provides the historical specificity necessary to delineate the changing public image of these health behaviours. It covers a period (1946-1989) during which advice about and the public image of the 4 health behaviours changed considerably, and it has data on the cohort's health habits and self images. Results indicate that people's views of themselves in relation to public images do indeed relate to these 4 health behaviours along with the other motivating forces. Understanding how all these motivating forces operate offers the possibility of predicting future behaviour and designing strategies to promote healthy choices.

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Duncan, Craig. "Health-related behaviour in context : a multilevel approach." Thesis, University of Portsmouth, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.306947.

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Behrendt, Hannah Ariadne. "Experiments on behaviour and decision making in health." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/31524.

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Research in judgement and decision-making has identified numerous ways in which human decisions are likely to be biased, deviating systematically from the behaviour one would expect if humans were fully rational 'Econs', maximizing their utility with perfect self-control. Suboptimal decision-making as a result of these biases imposes large costs on individuals and society. In this thesis I investigate experimentally how decision-making can be improved, focusing on the health domain, where errors ultimately become a matter of life and death. Chapter 1: Providing feedback has been shown to be an effective way to change behaviour across several domains, including energy use and the workplace. However, there is little evidence on the effect of providing feedback in high stakes environments, where people make risky decisions with potentially catastrophic losses. In the first chapter I conduct a field experiment that provides feedback and information in such a context - emergency healthcare. Understanding the drivers of patients' decision-making relating to their demand for healthcare services and how they can be directed to the most appropriate services at any given time is a challenge for health systems across many countries. This trial aimed to reduce avoidable Emergency Department (A&E) attendances by sending a personal feedback letter to people who recently attended an Emergency Department but whose health concerns could have been dealt with elsewhere. Patients were randomly allocated to either receive a follow-up letter with information on alternatives to A&E or no letter (usual care). Overall, I do not find a statistically significant difference between the re-attendance rates of patients who did and did not receive the letters. However, the effect of the intervention interacted significantly with patient age, especially in men. I develop a conceptual framework that explores possible explanations for these heterogeneous effects. Chapter 2: Policy interventions drawing on insights from behavioural sciences are increasingly popular and have been successfully applied across a number of different policy areas. However, little attention has been paid to the extent to which the effects of repeated behavioural interventions are sustained over time. In the second chapter I study this question through a natural field experiment in the English National Health Service (NHS). The intervention consists of changing the salience of waiting time on the clinicians' e-Referral Service (ERS) interface. Waiting longer can negatively affect patients' health gains from receiving treatment, so referring patients to services with shorter waiting times can be of benefit. I find, through a stepped wedge trial, that putting a simple alert against services with high waiting times leads to a 35 percent reduction in the share of referrals to these services. The effect of the intervention is sustained over time and does not vary with prior referral habits. A small, low-cost intervention increasing the salience of waiting time to clinicians has a powerful and sustained effect on the choices of their patients. Chapter 3: Behavioural attitudes toward risk and time, as well as behavioural biases such as present bias, are thought to be important drivers of unhealthy lifestyle choices. While the first two chapters of this thesis take behavioural biases as given, the third chapter makes a first attempt at exploring the possibility of training the mind to alter these attitudes and biases, in particular relating to health-related behaviours, using a randomized controlled experiment. The intervention we consider is a well-known psychological technique called "mindfulness", which is believed to improve self-control and reduce stress. We conduct an experiment with 139 participants, around half of whom receive a four-week mindfulness training, while the other half are asked to watch a four-week series of historical documentaries. We find strong evidence that mindfulness training reduces perceived stress, but only weak evidence of its impact on behavioural traits and health-related behaviours. We do not see that engagement with mindfulness training is correlated with behavioural characteristics such as impulsiveness and impatience. Our findings have significant implications for a new domain of research on training the mind to alter behavioural traits and biases that play important roles in lifestyle.

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Whelan, Maxine E. "Persuasive digital health technologies for lifestyle behaviour change." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2018. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/32507.

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BACKGROUND. Unhealthy lifestyle behaviours such as physical inactivity are global risk factors for chronic disease. Despite this, a substantial proportion of the UK population fail to achieve the recommended levels of physical activity. This may partly be because the health messages presently disseminated are not sufficiently potent to evoke behaviour change. There has been an exponential growth in the availability of digital health technologies within the consumer marketplace. This influx of technology has allowed people to self-monitor a plethora of health indices, such as their physical activity, in real-time. However, changing movement behaviours is difficult and often predicated on the assumption that individuals are willing to change their lifestyles today to reduce the risk of developing disease years or even decades later. One approach that may help overcome this challenge is to present physiological feedback in parallel with physical activity feedback. In combination, this approach may help people to observe the acute health benefits of being more physically active and subsequently translate that insight into a more physically active lifestyle. AIMS. Study One aimed to review existing studies employing fMRI to examine neurological responses to health messages pertaining to physical activity, sedentary behaviour, smoking, diet and alcohol consumption to assess the capacity for fMRI to assist in evaluating health behaviours. Study Two aimed to use fMRI to evaluate physical activity, sedentary behaviour and glucose feedback obtained through wearable digital health technologies and to explore associations between activated brain regions and subsequent changes in behaviour. Study Three aimed to explore engagement of people at risk of type 2 diabetes using digital health technologies to monitor physical activity and glucose levels. METHODS. Study One was a systematic review of published studies investigating health messages relating to physical activity, sedentary behaviour, diet, smoking or alcohol consumption using fMRI. Study Two asked adults aged 30-60 years to undergo fMRI whilst presented personalised feedback on their physical activity, sedentary behaviour and glucose levels, following a 14-day wear protocol of an accelerometer, inclinometer and flash glucose monitor. Study Three was a six-week, three-armed randomised feasibility trial for individuals at moderate-to-high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The study used commercially available wearable physical activity (Fitbit Charge 2) and flash glucose (Freestyle Libre) technologies. Group 1 were offered glucose feedback for 4 weeks followed by glucose plus physical activity feedback for 2 weeks (G4GPA2). Group 2 were offered physical activity feedback for 4 weeks followed by glucose plus physical activity feedback for 2 weeks (PA4GPA2). Group 3 were offered glucose plus physical activity feedback for six weeks (GPA6). The primary outcome for the study was engagement, measured objectively by time spent on the Fitbit app, LibreLink app (companion app for the Freestyle Libre) as well as the frequency of scanning the Freestyle Libre and syncing the Fitbit. RESULTS. For Study One, 18 studies were included in the systematic review and of those, 15 examined neurological responses to smoking related health messages. The remaining three studies examined health messages about diet (k=2) and physical activity (k=1). Areas of the prefrontal cortex and amygdala were most commonly activated with increased activation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex predicting subsequent behaviour (e.g. smoking cessation). Study Two identified that presenting people with personalised feedback relating to interstitial glucose levels resulted in significantly more brain activation when compared with feedback on personalised movement behaviours (P < .001). Activations within regions of the prefrontal cortex were significantly greater for glucose feedback compared with feedback on personalised movement behaviours. Activation in the subgyral area was correlated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity at follow-up (r=.392, P=.043). In Study Three, time spent on the LibreLink app significantly reduced for G4GPA2 and GPA6 (week 1: 20.2±20 versus week 6: 9.4±14.6min/day, p=.007) and significantly fewer glucose scans were recorded (week 1: 9.2±5.1 versus week 6: 5.9±3.4 scans/day, p=.016). Similarly, Fitbit app usage significantly reduced (week 1: 7.1±3.8 versus week 6: 3.8±2.9min/day p=.003). The number of Fitbit syncs did not change significantly (week 1: 6.9±7.8 versus week 6: 6.5±10.2 syncs/day, p=.752). CONCLUSIONS. Study One highlighted the fact that thus far the field has focused on examining neurological responses to health messages using fMRI for smoking with important knowledge gaps in the neurological evaluation of health messages for other lifestyle behaviours. The prefrontal cortex and amygdala were most commonly activated in response to health messages. Using fMRI, Study Two was able to contribute to the knowledge gaps identified in Study One, with personalised glucose feedback resulting in a greater neurological response than personalised feedback on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. From this, Study Three found that individuals at risk of developing type 2 diabetes were able to engage with digital health technologies offering real-time feedback on behaviour and physiology, with engagement diminishing over time. Overall, this thesis demonstrates the potential for digital health technologies to play a key role in feedback paradigms relating to chronic disease prevention.

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Flinn, Susan Jane. "Student perceptions of health science teacher interpersonal behaviour." Thesis, Curtin University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/1457.

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The major aim of this study was to investigate the use of the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) in health science classrooms in Tasmania, Australia. In the past, the QTI has been used in a number of learning areas. However, it has not been used in the learning area of health science.This study involved 1,471 grade 9 and grade 10 health science students and their teachers in 75 classes. The QTI was used to study student and teacher perceptions of health science teacher interpersonal behaviour.Statistical analyses revealed that the QTI is a valid and reliable instrument for use in health science classrooms. Quantitative results from the QTI were supported by qualitative data including comments from the students and a reflective narrative of the experiences of the researcher as a health science teacher.An investigation into the associations between QTI scales and student attitudinal and cognitive outcomes revealed that all scales of the QTI related to student attitudinal and cognitive outcomes in health science classrooms. It is, however, the scales of Leadership and Helping/Friendly which make the greatest positive influence to student attitudinal and cognitive outcomes.Health science students perceived their teachers as displaying high levels of leadership, helping/friendly and understanding behaviour, and low levels of uncertain, dissatisfied and admonishing behaviour. Teachers generally perceived themselves in a more favourable manner than their students did.The students also perceived the less experienced teachers as less dominant and more oppositional compared to teachers with more experience. Female health science students generally perceived their teachers in a more positive way than male students and male students, in general, have better attitudes to health science lessons.

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Flinn, Susan Jane. "Student perceptions of health science teacher interpersonal behaviour." Curtin University of Technology, Science and Mathematics Education Centre, 2004. http://espace.library.curtin.edu.au:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=15223.

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The major aim of this study was to investigate the use of the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) in health science classrooms in Tasmania, Australia. In the past, the QTI has been used in a number of learning areas. However, it has not been used in the learning area of health science.This study involved 1,471 grade 9 and grade 10 health science students and their teachers in 75 classes. The QTI was used to study student and teacher perceptions of health science teacher interpersonal behaviour.Statistical analyses revealed that the QTI is a valid and reliable instrument for use in health science classrooms. Quantitative results from the QTI were supported by qualitative data including comments from the students and a reflective narrative of the experiences of the researcher as a health science teacher.An investigation into the associations between QTI scales and student attitudinal and cognitive outcomes revealed that all scales of the QTI related to student attitudinal and cognitive outcomes in health science classrooms. It is, however, the scales of Leadership and Helping/Friendly which make the greatest positive influence to student attitudinal and cognitive outcomes.Health science students perceived their teachers as displaying high levels of leadership, helping/friendly and understanding behaviour, and low levels of uncertain, dissatisfied and admonishing behaviour. Teachers generally perceived themselves in a more favourable manner than their students did.The students also perceived the less experienced teachers as less dominant and more oppositional compared to teachers with more experience. Female health science students generally perceived their teachers in a more positive way than male students and male students, in general, have better attitudes to health science lessons.

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Wang, Jennifer. "Health care behaviour of Hmong refugees in Sydney." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 1998. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27572.

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The Hmong, a minority group from Laos, began arriving in Australia in 1976, having fled their country after the Pathet Lao (Lao communists) came into power in May, 1975. Little has been written on the Hmong in Australia but one survey conducted in 1987 on the Hmong community in Sydney identified it as socioeconomically disadvantaged (Lee 1987). At the same time, studies from the United States were discovering a significant problem of poor health status and unsatisfactory health care behaviour within various Hmong refugee communities in that country (Bliatout 1988a; Deinard and Dunnigan 1987; Scott 1982; Strand and Jones 1983). This study aims to examine the health care behaviour of Hmong in Sydney, and related socio-economic issues, in part to discover whether Hmong in Sydney exhibit similar health care behaviour and health status to Hmong in the United States. It will therefore both provide basic information on the Hmong in Australia, and specifically focus on the health care behaviour of Hmong in Sydney and, secondly, compare this with situations in the United States.

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Sund, Erik Reidar. "Geographical and Social Inequalities in Health and Health Behaviour in the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study(HUNT)." Doctoral thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Geografisk institutt, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-11283.

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Health and health behaviour varies both socially and geographically and individuals may experience different degrees of health according to their socioeconomic position and where they live. The fact that health varies geographically is usually given two interpretations. It may arise as a consequence of the composition of individuals according to sociodemographic markers. Alternatively, there may be features associated with the context in which they live that explains geographical health variation. Consequently, individuals’ health may be influenced by both individual factors and contextual factors. The overall aim of this thesis is to analyse whether geographical health variation is due to composition or features associated with context. Data from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) in the county of Nord-Trøndelag, Norway, and the statistical technique of multilevel modelling were utilised to analyse these relationships at multiple geographical scales and also across non-geographical contexts. The overall finding is that geographical health variation in Nord-Trøndelag is rather small and that place makes little difference to the health of individuals. This applies both to the level of municipalities and wards/neighbourhoods. The importance of the family context was also explored, and it was found that health and health behaviour within families seemed to cluster. There was strong behavioural conformity in terms of smoking habits whereas body mass index was weakly to moderately dependent on the family context. The findings have some clear implications in terms of future disease prevention and health policy. First, targeted area based initiatives towards particular municipalities, or wards, is not warranted in this particular county. It is however difficult to generalise this particular finding across cultures and towards more urban areas, there may be societies where such initiatives may be of importance. Second, there are some clear indications that the family context is important for the health of individuals and this finding should be acknowledged in future research as well as in disease prevention and health policy.

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Andersson, Per. "Predicting Health Behaviour – Population-Based Studies of Knowledge and Behaviour Related to Cardiovascular Diseases." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala : Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-7200.

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Hwu, Yueh-Juen. "The concept of health and health behaviour in Chinese people with chronic illness." Thesis, University of Ulster, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.274392.

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Fish, Julie. "Lesbians and health care : a national survey of lesbians' health behaviour and experiences." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2002. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/11768.

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This is the first systematic large-scale study of lesbian health that has been conducted in the U.K. Its purpose is to provide data about lesbians' breast and cervical screening behaviour and experiences of health care. Comparable studies in the U.S.A. suggest that lesbians do not attend for routine screening tests and are less likely, than heterosexual women, to practise breast self examination. A questionnaire (the Lesbians and Health Care Survey) was distributed to 1066 lesbians in the UK. Four follow-up focus groups (n = 30) were used to explore some of the issues arising from the survey. The major quantitative survey findings include: 12 per cent of lesbians have never attended for a cervical smear; 20 per cent have never practised BSE, and only 11 per cent attend for a mammogram every three years. The qualitative survey data were content analysed in order to identify the reasons given by lesbians for their healthcare behaviour. In the follow-up focus groups, breast health is taken as a case study. This thesis contributes to defining a lesbian feminist health agenda by its valuing of lesbians' own perspectives; by providing alternative conceptions of lesbians' health that do not rely on biomedical, disease models; and it locates lesbians' health experiences within a socio-political framework. By providing a range of data about-lesbians' health, the findings may help to inform the understanding of health providers about lesbians' health needs, improve the practice of health care delivery for lesbians and be of value to lesbians in making decisions about their health care behaviour.

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Wakefield, John Gregory Public Health &amp Community Medicine Faculty of Medicine UNSW. "Patient safety: factors that influence patient safety behaviours of health care workers in the Queensland public health system." Awarded by:University of New South Wales. Public Health & Community Medicine, 2009. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/44598.

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ABSTRACT Objectives: To develop and validate in an Australian setting, an instrument to effectively measure patient safety culture; to survey health care workers (HCWs) in a large public healthcare system to establish baseline patient safety culture; and, using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), to use behavioural modelling to identify the factors that predict and influence Patient Safety Behavioural Intent (PSBI) Eg. Reporting clinical incidents and speaking up when a colleague makes an error. Design: Cross sectional survey analysed with multiple logistic regression (MLR). Setting: Metropolitan, regional and rural public hospitals in Queensland, Australia. Participants: 5294 clinical and managerial staff. Main outcome measures: 1) Behavioural models for high-level Patient Safety Behavioural Intent (PSBI) for senior and junior doctors, senior and junior nurses, and allied health professionals. 2) Odds ratios to compare levels of PSBI between professional groups. Results: 1) The factors that influence high-level PSBI for each professional group give rise to unique predictive models. Two factors stand out as influencing high-level PSBI for all HCWs (R2 0.21). These are: i) Preventive Action Beliefs (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) 2.38) (HCWs??? belief that engaging in the target behaviour(s) will lead to improved patient safety) and ii) Professional Peer Behaviour (AOR 1.79) (HCWs??? perceptions of the safety behaviour(s) of one???s professional peers). 2) There was a six-fold difference in the level of target behaviour (PSBI) across the clinical groups with few (29.6%) junior doctors having a high-level of PSBI. When compared with the junior doctors, the senior doctors were nearly 1.5 times more likely (Odds Ratio (OR) 1.46, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.01-2.13), allied health staff 2.7 times more likely (OR 2.71, 95%CI 1.91-3.73), junior nurses 3.9 times more likely (OR 3.86, 95%CI 2.83-5.26), and senior nurses 6.0 times more likely (OR 6.01, 95%CI 4.78-9.16) to have high-level PSBI. Conclusions: This is the first published study to develop behavioural models of factors that influence HCWs??? intention to engage in behaviours known to be associated with improved patient safety. The findings of this study will greatly assist in the future design and implementation of targeted and cost-effective patient safety improvement initiatives.

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Enwald, H. (Heidi). "Tailoring health communication:the perspective of information users' health information behaviour in relation to their physical health status." Doctoral thesis, Oulun yliopisto, 2013. http://urn.fi/urn:isbn:9789526202792.

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Abstract The aim of this thesis was twofold: firstly, to increase understanding about the user of health information; namely about differences of users´ characteristics of health information behaviour, and secondly, to contribute to the research on factors that could be used as bases to tailor health information. Health information behaviour was scrutinised as information needs and seeking and information use in particular. It was also studied in relation to individuals´ physical health status. More studies on information use are needed, because understanding individual characteristics in issues related to information use has been considered critical for promoting healthy behaviours. Moreover, the thesis addressed the gap in research on the relationship between health information behaviour and tailoring health information. The thesis consists of three empirical studies and a literature review. The empirical research environments were provided by an intervention study aiming to prevent type 2 diabetes among a high risk population and by a population-based study among military conscription aged men. The setting was the City of Oulu in Northern Finland with the University of Oulu and the Oulu Deaconess Institute as the main operators of the studies. The empirical data were collected through questionnaires as well as through physiological and biochemical measurements during years 2010 and 2011. The data were analysed with statistical methods. Moreover, a literature review of tailored interventions studies using a computer as the medium of delivery in the context of physical activity, nutrition and weight management, was conducted. The findings indicate differences in health information users´ characteristics related to their information use as such and in relation to the indicators of their physical health status. It is suggested that, for example, health information presentation could be tailored on the basis of found differences and different message strategies and tactics could be used for different kinds of individuals. In addition, in the literature review the biases of tailored intervention studies stood out as influential on their outcomes. The thesis contributes to the current field of research on both health information behaviour and tailoring health communication. Moreover, the findings can support the development of more effective health promotion programs and intervention studies
Tiivistelmä Väitöskirjatutkimukseni tavoitteena on lisätä ymmärrystä terveystiedon käyttäjistä ja erityisesti heidän terveysinformaatiokäyttäytymiseensä liittyvistä ominaisuuksista. Tutkimukseni tuottaa tietoa tekijöistä, joita voidaan käyttää terveystiedon räätälöinnin lähtökohtana. Terveysinformaatiokäyttäytymistä tarkastelen tiedontarpeiden ja -hankinnan sekä erityisesti tiedon käytön näkökulmasta. Informaatiokäyttäytymistä tutkitaan myös suhteessa tiedon käyttäjän fyysiseen terveydentilaan. Tutkimukseni vastaa tarpeeseen tutkia tiedon käyttäjiä, sillä tiedon käyttöön liittyvien yksilöllisten ominaisuuksien ymmärtäminen on keskeistä terveyden edistämisessä. Väitöskirja tuottaa uutta tietoa myös informaatiokäyttäytymisen ja terveystiedon räätälöinnin välisestä suhteesta. Väitöskirjani käsittää neljä osajulkaisua: kolme empiiristä tutkimusta ja kirjallisuuskatsauksen. Empiiriset tutkimukset toteutettiin tyypin 2 diabeteksen ehkäisyyn tähtäävän interventiotutkimuksen (PreDiabEx) ja väestöpohjaisen tutkimuksen (MOPO) tarjoamissa tutkimusympäristöissä. Tutkimusten kohteina olivat miehet ja naiset, joiden riski sairastua tyypin 2 diabetekseen oli korkea sekä kutsuntaikäiset miehet. Tutkimukset toteutettiin Oulussa ja päätoteuttajia olivat Oulun yliopisto ja Oulun Diakonissalaitos. Empiirinen aineisto kerättiin kyselyillä sekä fysiologisilla ja biokemiallisilla terveydentilaa ilmaisevilla mittareilla vuosien 2010 ja 2011 aikana. Aineisto analysoitiin tilastollisesti. Kirjallisuuskatsauksessa analysoidaan fyysisen aktiivisuuden, ravitsemuksen ja painonhallinnan interventiotutkimuksia, joissa tarkastellaan terveystiedon räätälöinnin vaikuttavuutta silloin, kun tiedonvälitykseen käytetään tietokonetta. Empiiristen tutkimusten tulokset viittaavat siihen, että niin terveystiedonkäyttäjien ominaisuuksissa informaatiokäyttäytymisessä kuin sen suhteessa heidän fyysisen terveydentilaansa on eroja. Terveystietoa tulisikin esittää eri tavoin erilaisille ihmisille, muun muassa erilaisia viestistrategioita ja -taktiikoita käyttäen. Kirjallisuuskatsauksen tulokset lisäsivät ymmärrystä siitä, miten tutkimusasetelman vinoumat voivat vaikuttaa interventiotutkimusten tuloksiin

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Brogan, Elizabeth. "Start Healthy and Stay Healthy: A Mixed Methods Study of a Workplace Health Promotion Intervention for New Graduate Nurses." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2022. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/28149.

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Introduction This study aimed to determine the feasibility of implementing the Start Healthy and Stay Healthy Intervention, which was embedded into a transition to practice program to assist new graduate nurses to establish healthy dietary and physical activity behaviours from career commencement. Methods The research employed a sequential mixed methods design, with quantitative data collected before qualitative data. The Start Healthy and Stay Healthy intervention, informed by the Behaviour Change Wheel, aimed to assist new graduate nurses working in one Australian Local Health District to establish healthy dietary and physical activity behaviours. It included face-to-face education sessions, the use of a fitness tracker and twice-weekly messages. Participants completed three online surveys: at orientation, six weeks and six months. A sub-sample participated in semi-structured interviews to explore their experience of the intervention. Findings The intervention was delivered from February to December 2019. Ninety-nine nurses completed the baseline survey, 62 at six weeks and 69 at six months. At six months, health knowledge had increased, shown by participants correctly identifying recommended amounts of fruits, vegetables and physical activity. Fruit consumption increased at six months, but there was little change to vegetable intake. Takeaway food consumption decreased, but consumption of some discretionary foods increased. An increase in participation in vigorous physical activity occurred, and in walking for periods longer than 10 minutes during leisure time, from baseline to six months. The interviews identified three themes: support of colleagues and peers, the work environment and engagement with Start Healthy and Stay Healthy. The findings from this study indicate that is feasible to embed a workplace health promotion intervention into a transition to practice program and that education sessions, messages and a Fitbit are acceptable means of supporting participation in healthy behaviours. Conclusion Providing a targeted intervention for new graduate nurses embedded into a transition to practice program improved their health knowledge, some dietary behaviours, and improvements to physical activity levels.

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Auld, Matthew Christopher. "Three essays on the economics of health-related behaviour." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape7/PQDD_0003/NQ42936.pdf.

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Møller, Danø Anne. "Empirical studies of individual labour market behaviour and health /." Copenhagen, 2003. http://www.gbv.de/dms/zbw/376810386.pdf.

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Vanasse, Bethany, and Laura Tombrink. "Health Literacy and Behaviour : Why context can trump knowledge." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för samhällsstudier (SS), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-26974.

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Receiving health information and implementing recommendations are important factors for household development. However, it is not uncommon for people in the developing world to disregard information and not change their behaviour. The objective of this study is to contribute to the understanding of how context and knowledge determine health practices and behaviour in order to provide an explanation for why people do not follow health recommendations that would improve their health and the development of their household. In a field study in the Ribáuè district of Mozambique, an ethnographic approach using semi-structured interviews with individuals on the household level as well as stakeholders from both the public and private sector was used to gather the data. New institutionalist theory and health literacy were applied to structure the findings, analyze the data, and provide an explanation for the phenomenon described above. Conclusions from the study demonstrate that individuals must go through a process of obtaining, understanding, and evaluating health information before implementing recommendations. However, the socio-economic, and cultural circumstances in which a person lives can inhibit this process. Furthermore, regulative, normative, and cultural- cognitive underpinnings have proven to both resist and influence changes in health behaviour.

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Umeh, Frederick K. A. "A conflict-theory approach to understanding adolescents' health behaviour." Thesis, University of Northampton, 1998. http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/2848/.

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The relationship between adolescents’ health decisions and their coping reactions to threat has been the focus of some empirical research. A relevant theoretical perspective is the Conflict-Theory Model (Janis, 1983) which specifies several modes by which people cope with threat, including vigilance (objective appraisals), defensive avoidance (evasion of anxiety) and hypervigilance (panic). Developed to explain adult decision making, Conflict-Theory postulates were applied to health decisions in adolescents, thus extending the model to a new population. Conflict-Theory proposes that coping styles moderate relations between health beliefs and decisions, such that perceptions of threat and response-efficacy better predict health decisions in persons high on vigilance, or low on defensive avoidance or hypervigilance. These postulates were tested in a large-scale cross-sectional survey (Umeh, in press). The study involved 885 adolescents (aged 13-17 years) and focused on several important health behaviours (substance use, regular exercise, dietary fat consumption, unsafe sex). There was little evidence that dispositional coping styles moderate relations between health beliefs and decisions. Beliefs about the efficacy of using protection during sexual intercourse predicted intentions to have unprotected sex as a function of vigilance. However, the pattern of this moderator effect contradicted Conflict- Theory postulates: efficacy beliefs better predicted intentions in participants low on vigilance. There was no evidence that relations between health beliefs and decision are affected by levels of defensive avoidance or hypervigilance. Each coping style predicted intentions to exercise regularly and (vigilance only) have unprotected sex, independent of health beliefs. Conflict-Theory also proposes that high levels of vigilance relate to low levels of health risk-taking, whereas high levels of defensive avoidance and hypervigilance relate to high levels of health risk-taking. These postulates were tested in a secondary survey focusing on cigarette use (using a subsample of 104 participants from the main study). Coping patterns were associated with health risk-taking in accordance with Conflict-Theory. Overall, there was no evidence that the proposed role of coping styles in belief-decision relations apply to adolescents. However, there was some evidence for vigilance as a moderator, and coping styles as predictors of decisions irrespective of health beliefs. Coping also relates to health risk-taking. Overall, the importance of Conflict-Theory coping styles in adolescents’ health decisions, whether as moderator or predictor variables, varies across coping constructs and health behaviours

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Lluberas, Rodrigo. "Essays on consumption behaviour related to health and retirement." Thesis, University of London, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.603509.

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This dissertation is concerned with the empirical study of households' decisions on consumption and time use over the life-cycle. The first chapter presents evidence on the role of shocks around the time of retirement as a potential explanation of the retirement consumption puzzle. We address this issue by studying how expenditure of households in different quartiles of the pre-retirement wealth distribution behaves around the time of retirement and how th is is related to health shocks. In the next chapter wc focus on consumption over the life-cycle and show how different consumption patterns between workers aud pensioners translates into different iuflation experiences. We first document the expenditure life-cycle profile in the VK and show how differences in the consumption bundle of pem;ioners and workers translates into different inflation experiences. In the second part of the chapter we estimate cost of living; indexes for pensioners and workers in order to better understand pension income requirements . We estimate a demand system and compute the change in the cost ofiiving and the substitution effect for both pensioners and workers for the period 1990-2009. The last chapter focuses on household decisions related to food consumption and the use of time. Using a combination of food diary data and information on its nutritional content, we compile a unique time series of microdata on calorie and food purchases ill England spanning over more than 30 years. We measure calories from food at home purchases over the whole time series, but using a combination of observed and imputed data, are also able to fill the gap of knowledge about calories from other foods and drinks: eating out and alcohol. In addition to this, we also show data on bodyweight, calorie purchases and calories expended in different activities. 3

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Kamal, Noreen. "Designing online social networks to motivate health behaviour change." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/45242.

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Eating nutritious foods and being more physically active prevents significant illnesses such as cardiac disease, stroke, and diabetes. However, leading a healthy lifestyle remains elusive and obesity continues to increase in North America. We investigate how online social networks (OSN) can change health behaviour by blending theories from health behaviour and participation in OSNs, which allow us to design and evaluate an OSN through a user-centred design (UCD) process. We begin this research by reviewing existing theoretical models to obtain the determining factors for participation in OSNs and changing personal health behaviour. Through this review, we develop a conceptual framework, Appeal Belonging Commitment (ABC) Framework, which provides individual determinants (Appeal), social determinants (Belonging), and temporal consideration (Commitment) for participation in OSNs for health behaviour change. The ABC Framework is used in a UCD process to develop an OSN called VivoSpace. The framework is then utilized to evaluate each design to determine if VivoSpace is able to change the determinants for health behaviour change. The UCD process begins with an initial user inquiry using questionnaires to validate the determinants from the framework (n=104). These results are used to develop a paper prototype of VivoSpace, which is evaluated through interviews (N=11). These results are used to design a medium fidelity prototype for VivoSpace, which is tested in a laboratory through both direct and indirect methods (n=36). The final iteration of VivoSpace is a high fidelity prototype, which is evaluated in a field experiment with clinical and non-clinical participants from Canada and USA (n=32). The results reveal positive changes for the participants associated with a clinic in self-efficacy for eating healthy food and leading an active lifestyle, attitudes towards healthy behaviour, and in the stages of change for health behaviour. These results are further validated by evaluating changes in health behaviour, which reveal a positive change for the clinical group in physical activity and an increase in patient activation. The evaluation of the high fidelity prototype allow for a final iteration of the ABC Framework, and the development of design principles for an OSN for positive health behaviour change.

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Oakland, Susan. "Stress, coping behaviour and health : a study of headteachers." Thesis, University of Bradford, 1991. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.317004.

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Almond, Stephen. "GP consultation and prescribing behaviour : a health econometric approach." Thesis, University of Kent, 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.242942.

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Gray-Burrows, Kara Ayesha. "The relationship between executive control, conscientiousness and health behaviour." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2014. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/8001/.

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Health is important, but the health of the nation is failing, with chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes on the rise. Most of which are related to the performance of negative health behaviours. As a result, improving the health of the population through the promotion of positive health behaviours is a key aim of health professionals and Government. However, to promote positive health behaviours, first, what variables predict health behaviour must be identified. Two prominent variables of interest are cognition and personality. Recently, attention has focussed on executive control (EC) and conscientiousness as predictors of health behaviour. As such, a number of questions have emerged. Firstly, due to the conceptual overlap of these variables, are they related constructs? Secondly, do they have a direct impact on health behaviour? Finally, are they moderating variables, and do they moderate the intention-behaviour relationship? The aim of this PhD was to explore the relations between EC, conscientiousness and multiple health behaviours in healthy samples. Over four studies, participants completed an array of computer, and paper and pencil-based tasks and computer-administered questionnaires. In addition, behavioural intentions and health behaviour performance was measured over a period of 7-14 days using online daily diaries. Using multilevel modelling analysis, three main findings emerged. First, the relationship between EC and conscientiousness is dependent on the measures used. Second, some EC and conscientiousness measures have direct effects on health behaviour; and third, some EC and conscientiousness measures have indirect effects on health behaviour via moderation of the intention-behaviour relationship. The findings highlight EC and conscientiousness are significantly related to health behaviour performance, though the relationships are more complex than shown by previous research. As such, the current findings serve to highlight issues of construct complexity, ecological validity, sample diversity and measurement.

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Strömmer, Sofia. "Exercise motives and gains : implications for health behaviour change." Thesis, Bangor University, 2016. https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/exercise-motives-and-gains-implications-for-health-behaviour-change(63e2a3a2-4656-4766-8808-de1e3abfae76).html.

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The role of motives (what people want) has become a cornerstone of exercise participation research. The role of gains (what people get from exercise), on the other hand, has been largely overlooked. The aim of this thesis was to examine the nature and role of gains in exercise behaviour. In Chapter 2, people’s personal experiences of exercise were qualitatively explored, particularly with regard to their motives and what they did or did not gain from it. Primarily active participants described a multiplicity of motives and gains that were experiential, and positive past experiences, whereas primarily inactive participants described a narrow range of motives and gains that were instrumental, and negative past experiences. Accounts suggested that gains themselves are motivating and people naturally appreciate them. In Chapter 3, a measure of exercise gains was developed to complement an existing measure of motives. The exercise motives and gains inventory (EMGI) was used to quantitatively assess gains and their relationship with motives. In Chapter 4, the concept of gains was applied to an intervention. The measure developed in study 1 was utilised as a means to reflect on gains. No significant effects of the intervention were found, but autonomous motivation increased significantly in both groups. Suggestions are made for future research and efforts in implementing gains in supporting autonomous motivation. The work presented in this thesis demonstrates that gains can be measured, that gains are distinguished from motives, that people are aware of them, and that gains have the potential to shape exercise experiences and habits. Gains currently have potential uses through being incorporated into existing means of supporting health behaviour change, such as motivational interviewing.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Health behaviour'

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