#18 Explain health behaviors

#18 Explain health behaviors (Kozier, pg.125,1455, ATI pg. 7)

Health Behaviors: (definition) the actions a person takes to understand his or her
health state, maintain an optimal state of belief, prevent illness and injury and
reach his or her maximum physical and mental potential.

Cognitive-perceptual factors in health promoting behaviors:

These are considered the main motivators for engaging in healthy behaviors.

 Importance the person places on health
 How much control a person feels he/she has over own health
 Perceived self-efficacy (belief that he/she can be successful in carrying out the behavior)
 The person’s definition of health
 The person’s perception of his/her health status
 Whether the person perceives that there will be benefits from the healthy behaviors
 Perceived barriers (how difficult the person thinks the behaviors/activities will be)

Modifying factors: are those that affect the cognitive-perceptual factors.

 Demographic factors (sex, age, education, income)
 Biologic characteristics (body build)
 Interpersonal characteristics (expectations of significant others)
 Situational factors (ease/difficulty accessing healthy alternatives, balanced meals, etc.)
 Behavioral factors (previous experience knowledge and skill)
 Cues to action (things that make person aware of potential for growth)