What is illness behavior?
According to Dr. Rotimi Coker, a consultant psychiatrist, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos, illness behavior refers to the actions people take when they feel sick.
These include the way they see their illness, how they interpret the cause, signs and symptoms of the illness, and the action taken to seek for the treatment of the illness, whether to go to a medical facility or not.
These behaviours are in two categories:
1. The self-care attitude – is the action an individual takes regarding his illness especially in the absence of medical facilities. Most Nigerians prefer the self-care attitude until the situation gets worse before deciding to approach a medical facility.
2. Hospital care attitude – Humans also show some attitude when they need to visit the hospital for the treatment of their conditions. When they decide to go to the hospital, they develop anxiety, fear of the unknown, anger, depression and frustration.
This is because of many factors bordering along lack of resources, and vulnerability of the individual. On getting to the hospital, the individual assumes the stage of sick role, where he transfers his emotions to the medical doctor and demands for treatment of his illness.
The medical doctor forms a therapeutic alliance or rapport with his patient and gives the appropriate treatment. He receives treatment and gets better, he then decides to give up the sick role. While in the sick role, he is expected to be exempted from work and other serious responsibilities.
The sick role is influenced by beliefs, experiences & culture about
The medical doctor must at all times, evaluate factors associated with the sick role.
Factors affecting illness behavior in Nigeria include:
1. The illness of an individual will depend on the family and genetic make-up of the individual. This is where social and economic status of the sick individual will determine the type of treatment facility he will approach whether an orthodox hospital, traditional healers, or spiritual healers.
2. With regards to the educational status of the sick individual, low level of education will also affect the help-seeking attitude of the individual.
3. The presence of medical facilities such as health centres and primary care centres can also determine whether the individual will approach one for treatment.
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4. The emotional factors depend on the person’s ability to manage stress before the illness.
5. The spiritual beliefs of the individual will also come to play; some denominations do not take tablets while some are opposed to blood transfusion.
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