1. prof .Dr Elham Aljammas may 2015 L13
Illness behaviour
(sick role)

2. Illness behaviour
Illness behaviour refers to those behaviours that individuals engage in once they believe that they are ill.
“It is not the symptoms themselves that are significant in comprehending illness behaviour, but the way in which they are defined.”

3. Sick Role
A form of behaviour deemed appropriate to those perceived as being encumbered by illness
Comprises regulatory features that control the “deviant behaviour” of illness thereby preventing disruption of societal stability & cohesiveness (i.e. “The Social Order”).
The social community determines whether we can legitimately consider ourselves as ill.
We influence the social community’s decision by how we present and behave.

4. sick role
In sociology, the “sick role” is a term used to describe the social behaviors exhibited both by people who are sick and the people around them.
The term “sick role” was coined by researcher Talcott Parsons in the early 1950s. Since then, a number of people have built on Parsons' work to explore the role played in society by people who are ill as well as the experiences of people who are sick.

5. Benefits of sick role
Ability to gain exemption from normal roles e.g. employment, domestic work
Societal relinquishment of perspective that individuals concerned are responsible for their illness and predicament

6. Sick role -People who are sick are expected to get better,
obligations under the sick role theory:
-People who are sick are expected to get better,
- work on getting better by going to the doctor,
-complying with medication regimens, and cooperating with treatment plans

7. Sick role Being sick can,
come with loaded social responsibilities and burdens.
The sick role can also be involved in social perceptions of disability and disabled persons. For example, many people believe that people with mental illness should adhere to prescribed medications in order to be functional members of society or to be entitled to receive benefits,

8. SICK ROLE
. Illness perception might reflect cultural beliefs, psychological needs, or something else that may have little to do with measurable disease.

9. Factors influencing individual response to illness
Symptom visibility & perceived importance of this
Assessment of symptom’s significance
Potential for symptoms to disrupt community
Symptom denial for fear of confirmation of serious illness
Deferring response to symptoms because of competing social demands
Assessment of social & economic costs of responding to symptoms versus potential health-related benefits
Available information knowledge & cultural assumptions & understandings
Symptom frequency & persistence
Competing interpretations of symptoms

10. SICK ROLE
An understanding of a patient’s illness perception is necessary to help in a diagnosis. This can be difficult because perception is highly subjective, and there's no absolute method of measuring it, either from individual to individual, or even within one person’s perspective through time. Researchers have determined that reducing illness perception to its most basic elements can help patients describe what it is they are feeling. By organizing these components into a structure, patients can reconstruct the architecture of their beliefs about their illnesses

11. SICK ROLE
The first area of focus is identity. This component contains what the patient believes is true of the disease, including cause and symptoms. A patient who lists a number of experiences such as confusion, nausea, and anxiety as symptomatic of a particular disease may be more likely to experience those symptoms while simultaneously failing to recognize others that are just as likely to be part of the cluster.

12. SICK ROLES
The patient’s sense of timeline describes the third component. This area is concerned with the perceived illness’s initial appearance, its trajectory, and its conclusion. Patients with the illness perception that a sickness is or will become chronic are less likely to recover from it quickly than those who believe it is temporary.

13. Those scoring highest on Optimism Scale tend to be:
More successful
Healthier
Improve under pressure
Endure stress better
Live longer
Importance of habitual patterns of subjective beliefs about the causes of events (“explanatory style”)

14. SICK ROLE
The fourth area of concern is consequences. Patients whose illness perception leads them to believe that it will have a profound and negative effect on the quality of life are more likely to become discouraged or depressed than those who don’t have this particular perception. Patients who, in fact, do have a serious disorder but lack a strong sense of consequences might be better able to fight it or less equipped to handle the effects.

15. SICK ROLE
The final category is cure-control. This element of illness perception is concerned with the degree to which the patient believes a cure is possible. This can range from a fully negative position in which there is no hope of a cure to a fully positive one, in which the patient firmly believes a cure will be found.

16. SICK ROLE
The general idea is that the individual who has fallen ill is not only physically sick, but now adheres to the specifically patterned social role of being sick. ‘Being Sick’ is not simply a ‘state of fact’ or ‘condition’, it contains within itself customary rights and obligations based on the social norms that surround it. The theory outlined two rights of a sick person and two obligations:

17. SICK ROLE Rights: Obligations:
Rights:
The sick person is exempt from normal social roles
The sick person is not responsible for their condition
Obligations:
The sick person should try to get well
The sick person should seek technically competent help and cooperate with the medical professional

18. Rejecting the sick role.
There are three versions of sick role: 1. Conditional Unconditionally legitimate 3. Illegitimate role: condition that is stigmatized by others
Rejecting the sick role.
This model assumes that the individual voluntarily accepts the sick role.
Individual may not comply with expectations of the sick role, may not give up social obligations, may resist dependency, may avoid public sick role if their illness is stigmatised.
Individual may not accept ‘passive patient’ role.

19. Doctor Patient relationship.
Going to see doctor may be the end of a process of help seeking behaviour ,importance of 'lay referral system'- lay person consults significant lay groups first.
This model assumes 'ideal' patient and 'ideal' doctor roles).
Differential treatment of patient, and differential doctor patient relationship- variations depend on social class, gender and ethnicity.

20. Blaming the sick. Blaming the sick. ‘Rights’ do not always apply.
Sometimes individuals are held responsible for their illness, i.e. illness associated with sufferers lifestyle. (alcoholism).
In stigmatised illness sufferer is often not accepted as legitimately sick.

21. Chronic Illness.
Model fits acute illness (measles, appendicitis, relatively short term conditions).
Does not fit Chronic/ long-term/permanent illness as easily, getting well not an expectation with chronic conditions such as blindness, diabetes.
In chronic illness acting the sick role is less appropriate and less functional for both individual and social system.
Chronically ill patients are often encouraged to be independent.

22. variation to ethnicity s
factors that determine the type of illness behavior expressed in the individual.
age and gender in illness behavior
far greater in women
variation to ethnicity s
education,
family structure, and social networks
. health care coverage and insurance.
socioeconomic status.
lower-class individuals (lower in socioeconomic status) most likely to delay seeking professional health care even when presented with severe symptoms.

23. Treatment & Management Beliefs
Do less
Avoid exercise
Rest
Avoid academic work
Exercise more & do more
“The exploration of a patient’s biography is an important strategy in establishing a successful working relationship.”