The effect of a self-care intervention on health related attitudes and beliefs
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Date
1993
Department
Nursing
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Abstract
Self-care has always been a primary means of caring
for health problems. It has been estimated that 80% of all
health care is provided by the individual or family and
most people experience a self-care decision on one out of
every three days (Morrell, 1976). Reactive self-care or
correct actions taken by lay people in response to symptoms
is a current educational intervention in many workplace
health promotion programs. The emphasis of these programs
is increased health care knowledge and decision making by
the individual and appropriate utilization of the health
care system. Key components of many self-care programs are
self-care handbooks which contain specific self-care
recommendations for home treatment of common medical
problems. Additionally, the handbooks also contain
information about health care consumerism, developing an
active partnership with your health professional, and what
clinical interventions to expect when you do enter the
medical system for a specific problem.It appears however that individual personality
factors such as attitudes and beliefs may influence
whether or not self-care behaviors are practiced
(Krantz, 1980). There have been relatively few studies which have assessed the ability of a self-care program
(with or without a handbook) to impact health related
attitudes and beliefs.
The purpose of this study was to explore the effects
of a structured self-care program which included a
self-care handbook on health related attitudes and beliefs
in a group of electric utility employees with comparisons
to a group of employees who received no intervention. An
experimental design was utilized for this study with a
convenience sample of 70 employees. Subjects were randomly assigned to control and
treatment groups of 35 members each. Data were
collected pre- and post-intervention on health related
beliefs and health related attitudes. Additional
information collected included age and gender for
both groups and post intervention book utilization in the
treatment group. An analysis of the data revealed overall that a
structured self-care intervention which included a
self-care handbook could significantly affect some health
related attitudes and beliefs. The specific scales that
revealed significant change were powerful others and
information. Furthermore, these changes did last intervention. It was discovered that treatment group
members who had read more of their book were less likely to
believe their health status was due to chance events.
Younger participants in both groups did indicate a higher
desire to obtain health related information. These results
support the ability of a self-care program to improve
attitudes and beliefs in regard to personal responsibility
and active participation in health care.