Illness Behavior

Presentor:Claudette Kay Diaz

Illness us a highly personal state in which the person’s physical, emotional, intellectual, social,

developmental, or spiritual functioning is thought to be diminished. It is not synonymous with disease and

may or may not be related to disease. Types of Illness

Acute illness Chronic illness

Illness behavior is a coping mechanism which involves ways in which individuals describe, monitor and

interpret their symptoms, take remedial actions, and use the health care system.

How people behave when they are ill is highly individualized and affected by many variables such as,

age, sex, occupation, socioeconomic status, religion, ethnic origin, psychologic stability, personality,

education and modes of coping.

Disease can be described as an alteration in body functioning resulting in a reduction of capacities or

shortening of the normal life span.

Suchman’s 5 stages of Illness

Suchman’s 5 stages of Illness

Igun's 11 stages of Illness

Igun's 11 stages of Illness

Stage 1: Symptom experiences

Stage 2: Assumption of the sick role

Stage 3: Medical care contact

Stage 4: Dependent client role

Stage 5: Recovery or rehabilitation

Stage 1: Symptom experience

Stage 2: Self-treatment or Self-medication

Stage 3: Communication to others

Stage 4: Assessment of symptoms

Stage 5: Sick-role assumption

Stage 6: Concern

Stage 7: Efficacy of treatment

Stage 8: Selection of treatment

Stage 9: Treatment

Stage 10: Assessment of effectiveness of treatment

Stage 11: Recovery and rehabilitation

Models on the stages of Illness:

Suchman’s five stages of Illness:

Stage 1: Symptom experience

- Cognitive aspect (believe something is wrong)

- Physical experience of symptoms

- Emotional response (fear or anxiety)

Stage 2: Assumption of the sick role

Accepts the sick role and seeks confirmation from family and friends

Continue with self- treatment

Excused from normal duties and expectations

Emotional responses common (withdrawal, anxiety, fear and depression)

Feels the need to seek professional health advice

Stage 3: Medical care contact

Seeks advice of a health professional to:

Validate real illness

Explain illness in understandable terms

Get reassurance that they will be alright or prediction of what the outcome will be

Stage 4: Dependent client role

Becomes dependent on the professional for help

Stage 5: Recovery or rehabilitation

Relinquish the dependent role

Resume former roles and responsibilities

Permanent disability requires major adjustments in functioning

Igun's eleven stages of Illness

Stage 2: Self-treatment or Self-medication

The person begins self treatment

If the person believes the symptoms are serious, he/she moves to the next stage

Stage 1: Symptom experience

The person experiences symptoms and realizes there is a problem

The person often gives meaning to the symptoms and labels them and responds emotionally to the symptoms

Stage 3: Communication to others

The person communicates symptoms to significant others or a health professional

Stage 4: Assessment of symptoms

The person assesses the symptoms to determine legitimacy and make tentative diagnosis

Stage 5: Sick-role assumption

The person assumes the sick-role

Stage 6: Concern

The person’s significant other(s) offer concern and support

Stage 7: Efficacy of treatment

The person assesses various treatments and sources of treatment

Stage 8: Selection of treatment

The person assesses various treatments and costs

The person may defer to health professional’s advice

Stage 9: Treatment

The person implements the treatment plan

Stage 10: Assessment of effectiveness of

treatment

The person assesses if treatment not effective

The person may return to earlier stage

Stage 11: Recovery and rehabilitation

The person returns to earlier health status before illness or experiences temporary or permanent disability

Sick Role Behavior

Parson’s four aspects of the sick role:

Being Sick’ is not simply a ‘state of fact’ or ‘condition’, it is a specifically

patterned social role. In Western Societies the sick role implies four major

expectations which comprise of two rights and two duties. (Parsons: 1951:436-

7).

The model of the sick role, which Talcott Parsons designed in the 1950s, was

the first theoretical concept that explicitly concerned medical sociology. In

contrast to the biomedical model, which pictures illness as a mechanical

malfunction or a microbiological invasion, Parsons described the sick role as a

temporary, medically sanctioned form of deviant behaviour.

1. Clients are not held responsible for their condition.

- Sick person generally not held responsible for their condition (absence of blame).

- Illness is considered to be beyond individual’s control’; therefore not simply curable by willpower.

2. Clients are excused from certain social roles and tasks.

-Sick person is temporarily exempt from ‘normal’ social roles.

-The more severe the sickness the greater the exemption.

3. Clients are obliged to try to get well as quickly as possible.

-Sick person is expected to see being sick as undesirable; thus they have an obligation to try to ‘get well’.

-In this context exemption from normal responsibilities is temporary and conditional upon wanting and trying to get better.

4. Clients or their families are obliged to seek competent help.

-The sick person has an obligation to seek technically competent help from a suitably qualified professional and to cooperate in the process of trying to recover.

Effects of Illness

Impact on the ClientImpact on the Client Impact on the FamilyImpact on the Family

Behavioral and emotional changes

Loss of autonomy Self-concept and body

image changesLifestyle changes Privacy is usually affected

Role changesTask reassignments Increased demands on timeAnxiety about outcomesConflict about unaccustomed

responsibilitiesFinancial problemsLoneliness as a result of

separation and pending lossChange in social customs

Effects of Hospitalization

Privacy

When a client enters a hospital or a nursing facility, the loss of privacy is instantly obvious.

Autonomy

Hospitalized people frequently give up much of their autonomy—decisions about meals, hygienic practices and sleeping are frequently made for them.

Effects of Hospitalization

Lifestyle

Hospitalization marks a change in the lifestyle. Many hospitals determine what their clients should be doing and when they should be doing them.

Roles

People’s life roles frequently change when they are hospitalized.

Economics

Hospitalization often places a genuine financial burden on clients and their families.