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..