BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES - Universitatea de Medicină şi Farmacie

Spiritual dimension refers to spiritual and religious beliefs. These
two are important components of the way the person behaves in health and
illness. For instance Jehovah Witnesses’ are opposed to blood transfusions
which could make a banal illness lethal one
Social factors imply usually to dimensions: environmental and
Socio-cultural.
Housing, sanitation, climate and pollution of air, food and water are
aspects of environmental dimension which have many influences on health
and illness. For instance in large cities with smog are increased incidence
of asthma and respiratory problems.
Socio-cultural dimension includes a person’s economic level,
lifestyle, family and culture. Low-income groups are less likely to seek
health care to prevent or treat illness; high-income groups are more prone
to stress-related habits and illness. The family and the culture to which the
person belongs determine patterns of livings and values, about health and
illness that are often unalterable. For instance the adolescent whose parents
smoke and drink will see nothing wrong with smoking or drinking. Or for
instance the person of Asian descent is more likely to use herbal remedies
and acupuncture to treat an illness then results of conventional medicine.
8.2. Risky Health Lifestyles
Lifestyle is a term to describe the way a person lives. It is the
style of living that reflects the attitudes and values of a person. A lifestyle
is a characteristic bundle of behaviors (patterns of behavior) including
social relations, consumption, entertainment, and dress. The behaviors and
practices within lifestyles are a mixture of habits, conventional ways of
doing things, and reasoned actions.
In public health, "lifestyle" generally means a pattern of individual
practices and personal behavioral choices that are related to elevated or
reduced health risk. Since the mid-1970s, there has been a growing
recognition of the significant contribution of personal behavior choices to
health risk—in the United States thirty-eight percent of deaths in 1990
were attributed to tobacco, diet and activity patterns, and alcohol. Equally
important, illnesses attributable to lifestyle choices play a role in reducing
health-related quality of life and in creating health disparities among
different segments of the population.
In what will follow are unfolded the most heath risky lifestyle.
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