Introduction
Smoking is one of the most prevalent dangerous habits that causes many health repercussions, leading to damage to the lungs, heart, as well as other organs. However, despite the constant education of younger generations and adults on the consequences of this habit, the incidence rate has not decreased. Many individuals might believe that if they did not face any diseases in their younger years, they would surely not have any when they become older. The purpose of this paper is to show the negative health complications that stem from tobacco use, more specifically coronary heart disease, and how the health belief model can help healthcare professionals emphasize the importance of eliminating bad habits.
Discussion
The patient who was recently admitted to the hospital where I work was 55 male with symptoms of chest pain, fatigue, and shortness of breath. The patient expressed his main concerns and claimed that it became harder for him to work due to episodes of dizziness and weakness in his limbs. After closely examining the patient and their history, they revealed their nutrition, physical activity, and habits, among which was smoking. First, he emphasized that, aside from smoking, he led mostly a sedentary lifestyle, and being a security officer at the local mall, his main responsibility was to look at the monitors in the office. However, the biggest negative habit is smoking, considering that he started at the age of seventeen and never quit, using one pack a day. The patient was diagnosed with coronary heart disease and had to be advised to monitor his weight and eliminate smoking.
The efficacy of educational programs determines their worth, which is largely dependent on the appropriate application of ideas and models in health promotion. The first stage in the planning process for education is choosing a suitable educational model (Azadi et al., 2021). A useful model for creating educational interventions and encouraging preventive behaviors is the health belief model, which is one of the basic education systems used to prevent chronic illnesses and promote good health (Azadi et al., 2021). This paradigm is broad and important in the fight against illness and developing healthy behaviors (Zewdie et al., 2022). The three components of personal view, regulating behaviors, and the likelihood of engaging in the action all have a role in a person’s choice and desire to embrace a healthy habit (Bechard et al., 2021). Therefore, this model is largely based on the perceived advantages, disadvantages, and possibilities connected to the new healthy habit and elimination of the negative one.
In the situation with the given patient, the first approach is to educate the patient on the severity of the situation. Namely, continuous smoking can lead to coronary heart disease complications and heart failure (Shahjehan & Bhutta, 2022). The barriers that the client will meet will involve fighting addiction and looking for ways to minimize it, such as using nicotine patches. As for the benefits, these will include reduced chances of heart failure, reduced shortness of breath, and fatigue.
Conclusion
Hence, this paper demonstrates the detrimental health effects of tobacco smoking, particularly coronary heart disease, and how the health belief model might assist medical practitioners in stressing the need to quit harmful behaviors. The 55-year-old male patient who was just hospitalized at the hospital where I work had chest discomfort, exhaustion, and shortness of breath among his symptoms. The patient needed advice on controlling his weight and quitting smoking after being identified as having coronary heart disease. The health belief model is a useful tool for educating interventions and promoting certain behaviors. This model is mostly based on the perceived benefits, drawbacks, and opportunities associated with forming a new, positive habit and quitting a bad one.
References
Azadi, N. A., Ziapour, A., Lebni, J. Y., Irandoost, S. F., Abbas, J., & Chaboksavar, F. (2021). The effect of education based on health belief model on promoting preventive behaviors of hypertensive disease in staff of the Iran University of Medical Sciences. Archives of Public Health, 79(1), 69. Web.
Bechard, L. E., Bergelt, M., Neudorf, B., DeSouza, T. C., & Middleton, L. E. (2021). Using the health belief model to understand age differences in perceptions and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 609893. Web.
Shahjehan, R. D., & Bhutta, B. S. (2022). Coronary artery disease. StatPearls Publishing. Web.
Zewdie, A., Mose, A., Sahle, T., Bedewi, J., Gashu, M., Kebede, N., & Yimer, A. (2022). The health belief model’s ability to predict COVID-19 preventive behavior: A systematic review. SAGE Open Medicine, 10, 20503121221113668. Web.