Ebook163 pages4 hours
Risking Your Health: Causes, Consequences, and Interventions to Prevent Risky Behaviors
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
About this ebook
Behaviors that pose risks for an individual’s health and that also represent important threats for public health, such as drug use, smoking, alcohol, unhealthy eating causing obesity, and unsafe sex, are highly prevalent in low income countries, even though they are traditionally associated with richer countries.
Individual choices are an important part of the risky behaviors. Risking Your Health: Causes, Consequences, and Interventions to Prevent Risky Behaviors explore how those choices are formed and what are their consequences. Why do people engage in risky behaviors? Many different explanations have been proposed by psychology, sociology, economics or public health. One trait common to all these behaviors is that there is a disconnect †“ a function of both delay and uncertainty - between the pleasure or satisfaction provided by them and their consequences.
Another characteristic of risky behaviors is that they rarely occur in isolation. Peer-pressure, parental influences, networks and social norms often play an important role in initiating, continuing, or quitting those behaviors. Even if they might often be the first to suffer, the consequences of risky behaviors are also rarely limited to the individuals engaging in them. In certain cases, such as second-hand smoking or HIV transmission, the link is direct. In other cases, the link is less direct but not necessarily less real: the long term health consequences of many of these behaviors are costly to treat and could stretch households’ finances and worsen poverty. Finally, these risky behaviors have consequences for society as a whole since they often trigger a non-trivial amount of public health expenditures and lead to declines in aggregate productivity through premature death and morbidity.
Changing behaviors is tricky -- public health interventions via legislation with strong enforcement mechanisms can be more effective than simple communication campaigns informing consumers about the risks associated with certain behaviors, since translating knowledge into concrete changes in behavior seems to be hard to achieve. Economic mechanisms such as taxes (especially on alcohol and tobacco products), subsidies (such as free condoms), and conditional/unconditional cash transfers are also used to reduce risky behaviors (for example in HIV prevention). Of great interest to policy makers, academics and practitioners, this book assesses the efficiency of those interventions designed to reduce the prevalence of behaviors that endanger health.
Individual choices are an important part of the risky behaviors. Risking Your Health: Causes, Consequences, and Interventions to Prevent Risky Behaviors explore how those choices are formed and what are their consequences. Why do people engage in risky behaviors? Many different explanations have been proposed by psychology, sociology, economics or public health. One trait common to all these behaviors is that there is a disconnect †“ a function of both delay and uncertainty - between the pleasure or satisfaction provided by them and their consequences.
Another characteristic of risky behaviors is that they rarely occur in isolation. Peer-pressure, parental influences, networks and social norms often play an important role in initiating, continuing, or quitting those behaviors. Even if they might often be the first to suffer, the consequences of risky behaviors are also rarely limited to the individuals engaging in them. In certain cases, such as second-hand smoking or HIV transmission, the link is direct. In other cases, the link is less direct but not necessarily less real: the long term health consequences of many of these behaviors are costly to treat and could stretch households’ finances and worsen poverty. Finally, these risky behaviors have consequences for society as a whole since they often trigger a non-trivial amount of public health expenditures and lead to declines in aggregate productivity through premature death and morbidity.
Changing behaviors is tricky -- public health interventions via legislation with strong enforcement mechanisms can be more effective than simple communication campaigns informing consumers about the risks associated with certain behaviors, since translating knowledge into concrete changes in behavior seems to be hard to achieve. Economic mechanisms such as taxes (especially on alcohol and tobacco products), subsidies (such as free condoms), and conditional/unconditional cash transfers are also used to reduce risky behaviors (for example in HIV prevention). Of great interest to policy makers, academics and practitioners, this book assesses the efficiency of those interventions designed to reduce the prevalence of behaviors that endanger health.
Related to Risking Your Health
Related ebooks
Treating Drug Problems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTreatment and Prevention of Alcohol Problems: A Resource Manual Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMoving toward Universal Coverage of Social Health Insurance in Vietnam: Assessment and Options Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGovernance, Risk, and Compliance Handbook: Technology, Finance, Environmental, and International Guidance and Best Practices Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPromoting Healthy Living in Latin America and the Caribbean Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPalliative Care: An Integrated Approach Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDual Diagnosis: Practice in Context Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCounseling Problem Gamblers: A Self-Regulation Manual for Individual and Family Therapy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPoverty, Inequality, and Evaluation: Changing Perspectives Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Healthcare Finance: Modern Financial Analysis for Accelerating Biomedical Innovation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Future of Philanthropy: Economics, Ethics, and Management Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChildren and Youth in Crisis: Protecting and Promoting Human Development in Times of Economic Shocks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOverweight and Obesity in Saudi Arabia: Consequences and Solutions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEffects of Punishment on Human Behavior Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHarvard Medical School Guide to Healing Your Sinuses Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Medical For You
The Hormone Reset Diet: Heal Your Metabolism to Lose Up to 15 Pounds in 21 Days Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mediterranean Diet Meal Prep Cookbook: Easy And Healthy Recipes You Can Meal Prep For The Week Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Holistic Herbal: A Safe and Practical Guide to Making and Using Herbal Remedies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 40 Day Dopamine Fast Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Diabetes Code: Prevent and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Passionista: The Empowered Woman's Guide to Pleasuring a Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Period Power: Harness Your Hormones and Get Your Cycle Working For You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Adult ADHD: How to Succeed as a Hunter in a Farmer's World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ (Revised Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Vagina Bible: The Vulva and the Vagina: Separating the Myth from the Medicine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Women With Attention Deficit Disorder: Embrace Your Differences and Transform Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5David D. Burns’ Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy | Summary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5ATOMIC HABITS:: How to Disagree With Your Brain so You Can Break Bad Habits and End Negative Thinking Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Peptide Protocols: Volume One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Living Daily With Adult ADD or ADHD: 365 Tips o the Day Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Amazing Liver and Gallbladder Flush Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Woman: An Intimate Geography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lies My Gov't Told Me: And the Better Future Coming Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Herbal Healing for Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Risking Your Health
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Risking Your Health - Damien de Walque
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1