The document discusses the differences between illness behavior and sick role behavior, emphasizing their significance in contemporary public health practice. It highlights the influence of demographic factors on health behaviors and the impact of power dynamics in medical settings. Additionally, it notes the contributions of these concepts to health education and the planning of health promotion initiatives.

1. Compare and contrast illness behavior with sick role behavior. Why are they different?
Solution
CONCEPTS OF ILLNESS BEHAVIOR AND SICK-ROLE BEHAVIOR IN PUBLIC HEALTH
In present-day public health practice, which is based on population and community-based
approaches with an emphasis on participation, the research from these concepts of behavior has
helped immensely in clarifying critical approaches to public health. The concept of diversity in
populations has been greatly enhanced through the articulation of the concepts of illness
behavior and the sick role. Researchers now have a significant body of research showing the
wide variation in these behaviors with respect to all the key demographic variables. For example,
there has been excellent work showing how the presentation of symptoms to a physician is
highly dependent on gender, ethnic background, and other sociocultural characteristics. Research
on the sick-role concept has elucidated the issue of power and its many manifestations in
doctors' offices, hospitals, and other medical settings. It would be difficult, given this literature,
for a practicing health educator not to consider the role of power in patient-physician
interactions.
Present-day health education has also been heavily influenced by the research on illness and
sick-role behavior. These concepts have helped inform part of the scientific basis for the
educational and environmental approach to health promotion planning elucidated by L. W. Green
and M. W. Kreuter in their widely used PRECEDEPROCEED model. At the same time, the
conceptual components of illness and sick-role behavior continue to be explored in narrative
analyses of the written and spoken traditions of peoples to describe their experiences of illness
and sickness.