HEALTH BEHAVIOR THEORY An individual's attitude toward his or her health influences his or her ability to maintain an optimal level of health, prevent illness, or recover from illness. Understanding a patient's attitude towards their condition is key to establishing an effective healthcare program for health promotion, prevention and disease management. Various theories on health behavior have therefore emerged. All of these are designed to help the patient and their family facilitate learning, adaptation and behavior change to improve quality of life. (Butts & Rich, 2011) Additionally, health belief models have been developed to determine whether the individual is likely to participate in disease prevention and health promotion activities. (Kozier & Erb, 2011) Providing health education is one of the most vital responsibilities of nurses. This can be difficult if the recipients of our teaching are resistant to behavior change. In addition to establishing common goals between nurse and patient, several factors must be taken into consideration before conducting health education lessons. Understanding patient behavior and attitudes towards their condition can be very helpful in designing a specific health program for a particular individual. Attitudes and beliefs in compliance with treatment. (ANALYZE HOW PATIENT ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS CAN INFLUENCE COMPLIANCE WITH TREATMENT) Patient compliance is one of the challenges that every member of the healthcare team must face. Many factors can influence a patient's attitude towards his health. Lack of knowledge about the disease and its management, lack of social support, lack of adequate finances or health insurance are among others. These factors have a negative influence on a person's attitude and beliefs towards... middle of the document... general factors as well as demonstrating attentiveness, positive reinforcement if applicable, and establishing a therapeutic relationship when designing the treatment plan or even treatment programs would ultimately lead to a more satisfactory and successful outcome. References: Kozier, B. and Erb, G. (2011) Fundamentals of Nursing Concepts, Process and Practice (9th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Butts, J. and Rich, K. (2011) Philosophies and Theories for Advanced Nursing Practice Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning Mc Ewen, M., & Wills, E. (2014). Theoretical foundations for nursing (4th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.Fishbein, M., & Yzer, M. C. (2003). Using theory to design effective health behavior interventions. Communication Theory, 13(2), 164-183. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/214705041?accountid=37862