Discussion: Psychosocial Factors Affecting the Health Care Professional
Discussion: Psychosocial Factors Affecting the Health Care Professional
Psychosocial Factors and Patient Education Homework Sample
- Psychosocial Factors Affecting Health Care Professionals
Health care professionals’ productivity depends on their mental and social well-being and the support they receive in routine care. Psychosocial factors include job characteristics that affect health care professionals’ psychological and social well-being (Philip & Cherian, 2020). They include workplace demands, the complexity of patient needs, social support, and positivity. Possible impacts of these factors on patient education include providers’ perception of patient education and their availability to conduct patient education. For instance, emotionally and mentally unstable nurses may not provide quality patient education.
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- Psychosocial Factors Affecting Patients
Patients should also be mentally and socially stable. Common psychosocial factors include life satisfaction, optimism, social network, and positive social support (Veazie & Denham, 2021). Patients should be adequately supported by their families and health care professionals. Since psychosocial factors affect mental and social well-being, they can significantly affect patients’ attitudes towards patient education and its providers. Other effects include patients’ participation and comprehension of what is taught depending on their psychological and emotional attachment to the educators and the content.
- Personality Styles
Health care professionals encounter patients with varying traits. Personality styles denote a person’s consistent inclinations across contexts. They represent the different behaviors and personal traits that patients manifest in different contexts (Redelmeier et al., 2021). Factors triggering these differences include self-perception, understanding of issues, and backgrounds. For instance, some patients are generally pessimistic, melancholic, and highly social, among other traits. Common approaches that providers can use to help a patient include providing social support and patient education and improving patients’ self-perception. Patients can also be motivated to improve their positivity.
- Steps in Adjustment to Illness
Patients go through a challenging experience before adjusting to illness. The first step of the adjustment process is the denial stage, and patients usually cope by distancing themselves from the feeling. Anger follows and primarily stems from the loss of health (Pedrosa et al., 2020). Support from family members can help patients to cope with anger. The next step is bargaining, and patients cope by active participation in treatment. Depression follows, and psychosocial support is vital for coping. The last step is acceptance; a positive mindset and emotion-focused and problem-focused support are crucial for coping.
- Health Care Professional’s Role in Patient Education
The demand, need, and objectives of patient education differ with life stages. As Wittink and Oosterhaven (2018) suggested, the primary mandate of a health care provider in patient education is to improve health literacy to enable patients to make the correct decisions regarding health. Guided by this principle, the health care professional’s role should be assessing knowledge gaps and facilitating patient education in a patient-centered way. Patients should also be given culturally appropriate education and educational materials. Health care professionals should also use educational sessions to establish a healthy relationship with patients to promote collaboration, compliance, and communication.
- Family’s Role in Patient Education
Family members play a valuable role in facilitating and implementing patient education. As Finset (2018) noted, the family comprises the closest people to patients and influences their decision-making. Family members also understand the patient’s condition in more detail and can help providers to design patient education and necessary support appropriately. The family also observes whether the patient follows the medical advice and informs the health care professional about necessary adjustments. Above all, the family motivates the patient to adhere to the medical advice hence improving the outcomes of patient education.
- How the Family Influences Compliance
Due to its closeness with the patient, the family influences the patient positively. Maslakpak et al. (2018) noted that family members encourage patients to adopt a healthier lifestyle, take medication, and better manage their health as advised by health care professionals. Due to the close observation by family members, patients feel obliged to respect health care providers hence minimal resistance. Essential measures when communicating with the patient’s family include active engagement, listening, and respecting decisions and privacy. Timely communication, including feedback and clarity, should be prioritized.
References
Finset, A. (2018). Family involvement, patient engagement and benefits of patient education interventions. Patient Education and Counseling, 101(6), 969. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2018.04.008
Maslakpak, M. H., Rezaei, B., & Parizad, N. (2018). Does family involvement in patient education improve hypertension management? A single-blind randomized, parallel group, controlled trial. Cogent Medicine, 5(1), 1537063. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331205X.2018.1537063
Pedrosa, A. L., Bitencourt, L., Fróes, A. C. F., Cazumbá, M. L. B., Campos, R. G. B., de Brito, S. B. C. S., & Simões e Silva, A. C. (2020). Emotional, behavioral, and psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 566212. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.566212
Philip, J., & Cherian, V. (2020). Factors affecting the psychological well-being of health care workers during an epidemic: A thematic review. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 42(4), 323-333. https://doi.org/10.1177/0253717620934095
Redelmeier, D. A., Najeeb, U., & Etchells, E. E. (2021). Understanding patient personality in medical care: Five-factor model. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 36(7), 2111–2114. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-021-06598-8
Veazie, P., & Denham, A. (2021). Understanding how psychosocial factors relate to seeking medical care among older adults using a new model of care seeking. Social Science & Medicine, 281, 114113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114113
Wittink, H., & Oosterhaven, J. (2018). Patient education and health literacy. Musculoskeletal Science and Practice, 38, 120-127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msksp.2018.06.004
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Assessment Description
Write a short (50-100-word) paragraph response for each question. This assignment is to be submitted as a Microsoft Word document.
1) Give examples of psychosocial factors that affect the health care professional and the effect those factors could have on patient education.
2) Give examples of psychosocial factors that affect the patient and the effect those factors could have on patient education.
3) Explain what is meant by personality styles and give examples of approaches that could be used to help the patient. Include self-perception as a factor.
4) List the steps in adjustment to illness and how the patient copes with each step.
5) Explain the health professional’s role in teaching the patient at different life stages.
6) Define the role of the family in patient education.
7) How might the family influence the compliance of the patient and what measures can the health care professional use in communication with the family?