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Essentials of Health Behavior: Social and Behavioral Theory in Public Health

Author(s): Mark Edberg, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Health Services-George Washington University
Details:
  • ISBN-13: 9780763737962
  • ISBN-10:0763737968
  • Paperback    200 pages      © 2007
Price: International Sales $105.95 US List
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Overview

Instructor Resources: Instructor's Manual, PowerPoints

 

New companion text Essential Readings in Health Behavior: Theory and Practice, now available. Save when you bundle these together. Ask your account specialist to learn more.

Health promotion, education, and prevention programs ultimately focus on changing health behavior. Essentials of Health Behavior provides the groundwork for understanding, assessing, and effectively applying theories of human behavior within the practice of public health. In clear and accessible language, it provides the student with a background of the kinds of social and behavioral theories that guide our understanding of health related behavior and form the background for health promotion and prevention efforts. Filled with real life examples and profiles, the text explores some of the ways in which these theories and approaches are used in applied health promotion efforts.

This book will:

 

  • Introduce students to the relationship between behavior and a selection of major health issues.
  • Provide an introductory background to the kinds of social and behavioral theories that guide our understanding of health related behavior and form the background for health promotion and prevention efforts.
  • Explore some of the ways in which these theories and approaches are used in applied health promotion efforts.

Looking for more real-life evidence? Check out Cases 3, 5-11, 13, 18, & 20 in Essential Case Studies in Public Health, Putting Public Health into Practice.

ShowTable of Contents

 

I. Section One: On Health and Behavior – An Introduction

 

Chapter 1: Introduction: The Links Between Health and Behavior

·          The Setting: Daily Life

·          The Questions

·          The Social-Ecological Web; Individual and Environment

·          In This Book…

·          Study Questions

 

Chapter 2: Selected Health Issues and Related Behavioral factors: Domestic and International

·          The Social-Ecological Web and Health Determinants

·          Current Update: Key Health Issues

·          Relating Behavior to Health Issues – A Sampling

o         Obesity/Cardiovascular Disease

o         Youth Violence

o         HIV/AIDS

·          Study Questions

 

II. Section Two: On the Roots of Behavior – A Multidisciplinary Survey

 

Chapter 3: Social/Behavioral Theory and its Roots

·          Thinking About Theory

·          The Context of Theory from the History of Western Philosophy and Science

o         Four themes: Order/regularity, predictability, progress, and empirical data

o         Theory, the four themes, and their alternatives

·          Antecedents

·          Study Questions

 

Chapter 4: Individual Health Behavior Theories

·          What Are We Talking About?

·          Health Belief Model

·          Theory of Reasoned Action/Theory of Planned Behavior

·          Behavior Change in Stages: Two Models

·          Critiques

·          Study Questions

 

Chapter 5: Social, Cultural and Environmental Theories Part I

·          What Are We Talking About?

·          Social Cognitive Theory

·          Social Network Theories

·          Social Process Theories and Approaches

·          Diffusion of Innovations

o         Social Marketing

o         Critiques

·          Study Questions

 

Chapter 6: Social, Cultural and Environmental Theories Part II

·          Communications Theories

·          Community and Organizational Change

·          Political Economy

·          Anthropology and Cultural Theory – Behavior as Adaptation; Behavior as Meaningful and Symbolic

·          Critiques

·          Study Questions

 

Chapter 7:  Integrating individual, Socio-Cultural and Environmental Theories of Behavior– the Ecological Perspective

·          Where Do You Start? Picking Your Battle

·          Planning Approaches – A Sampler

o         PRECEDE-PROCEED

o         Risk and Protective Factors Approach

·          Study Questions

 

III. Section Three: Putting Theory into Practice

 

Chapter 8: Communities and Populations as Focus for health Promotion Programs

·          Community Intervention or Intervention in a Community?

·          Community Intervention and the Complexity of Communities

·          Communities as Experts

·          The Idea of Population-Based Health Promotion

·          Tailoring

·          Sustainability

·          Study Questions

 

Chapter 9: Application of Theory: Schools and Worksites

·          Settings for Intervention

·          Schools

·          Workplace Settings

·          Study Questions

 

Chapter 10: Application of Theory: Communications Campaigns

·          Communicating Through the Public Media

·          Communications Campaigns

·          Media Advocacy

·          Health Behavior Theory and Communications/Mass media Campaigns

 

Chapter 11: Application of Theory: Global Health

·          The Setting – Health in the Global Context

·          The Global Health System

·          Theory and Its Application

 

Chapter 12: Application of Theory: High Risk and Special Populations

·          Introduction

·          Applying Behavioral Theory to High Risk Populations and Contexts

·          Harm Reduction Approaches to Addressing High Risk Behavior

·          Generative Approaches for Understanding High Risk Behavior

 

Chapter 13: Evaluation: What Is It and Why Is It Necessary? How Does it Relate to Theory?

·          Introduction

·          The Three Types of Evaluation

·          Using a Logic Model to Set Up and Evaluation

·          Evaluation Methods

·          What Kinds of Impact or Outcome?

·          Study Questions

 

IV. Section Four: Current Trends

 

Chapter 14: Culture, Diversity and Health Disparities: Are Current Theories Relevant?

·          Introduction

·          Why Health Disparities?

·          What to Do? How is Theory Connected to Resolving Health Disparities?

·          Study Questions

 

Chapter 15: Career Choices and Social/Behavioral Theory in Public Health – A Brief Introduction

  • The Possibilities
  • Study Questions

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ShowAbout the Author(s)

Mark Edberg, PhD-Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Health Services-George Washington University

MARK EDBERG, PhD, MA, is Associate Professor in the Department of Prevention and Community Health in the School of Public Health and Health Services at George Washington University, with secondary appointments in the Department of Anthropology and Elliott School of International Affairs. Dr. Edberg is an applied and academic anthropologist with 20 years’ experience in social research, primarily in public health, that has included basic behavioral research, interventions and intervention research, program evaluation, community health promotion, strategic planning and policy development, communications development, and capacity building – both domestic and international. Key areas of focus have been: high risk and marginalized populations, social determinants of health, health disparities, minority health, at-risk youth, prevention of HIV/AIDS and STIs, youth violence, substance abuse, general issues of poverty and health, and theory development. He has been Principal Investigator, Co-Principal Investigator or Project Director on intervention and research efforts funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH), U.S. Office of Minority Health, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and other agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services, and has been working with UNICEF in the Latin America-Caribbean region as well as at UNICEF headquarters. He has also provided consulting and support for the Organization of American States, USAID, Urban Institute, and local governments. Dr. Edberg teaches graduate courses in social/behavioral theory and qualitative research, and undergraduate courses in culture and health and social/behavioral theory for health promotion, as well as previous courses for the Department of Anthropology. Dr. Edberg has published numerous articles in journals such as the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, the Journal of Youth Studies, Health Promotion Practice, Journal of Primary Prevention, the International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, Anthropological Quarterly, and others. Dr. Edberg’s recent books include Essentials of Health Behavior and Essential Readings in Health Behavior,and a book documenting his U.S.-Mexico border research (University of Texas Press). He is also a recipient of a Fulbright Senior Specialist award and a Fellow of the Society for Applied Anthropology.   

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  • "The writing style is quite sneaky--breezy and conversational enough that before you know it, you've finished reading an entire theory section. And as a bonus, you actually understand it! It is quite a skill to be able to break down 'lofty theory' into something my students can see working in their own lives. I appreciate the accessibility of the text."

    —Nicole Aydt Klein, Ph.D. CHES, Assistant Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
     

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