Title: What Is behavior?
Course: Level 3 - Health Education and Promotion > Section: Human behaviour and health

Health is determined, not by medical services and drugs, but by ordinary human actions and behaviors. Many health education programs have failed because they put too much emphasis on individual behavior and neglected to understand the cultural, social, economic and political factors that influence his/her behaviors or actions.

However, a proper understanding of the influences outside the individual's control will avoid the pitfall of victim-blaming. These outside influences could include advertising health-damaging products such as cigarettes or alcohol, government policies such as promoting tobacco cultivation or location of health services, poverty and unemployment. Furthermore, fighting poverty, challenging injustice and working for political change are all "behaviors" themselves.

Behavior is an action that has a specific frequency, duration and purpose whether conscious or unconscious. It is what we "do" and how we "act".

For example, learning is a behavior of the students which has a specific frequency, purpose and duration. People stay healthy or become ill, often as a result of their action or behavior.

For example, saying a person has smoking behavior

- Action - he/she must smoke cigarette
- Duration -is it for a week/month?
- Frequency- how many times a day?
- Purpose -is he/she doing consciously or not?

Think about the following behaviors. Which of the following do you think is a healthy and unhealthy behavior?

- Using mosquito nets and insect sprays to prevent mosquito bite.
- Feeding additional foods for a child who is under six months.
- Defecating in an open field.
- Doing sexual intercourse without a condom.

Health behaviors are those personal behaviors or, actions and habits that an individual performs to stay healthy, to restore his health when he gets sick and to improve their health status. So, in the above list, using mosquito nets and insect sprays is a health behavior because it reduces the risk of getting malaria, whereas the rest are examples of unhealthy behaviors. Examples of behaviors promoting health and preventing diseases (health behaviors).

- Preventive behaviors: Actions that healthy people undertake to keep themselves or others healthy and prevent disease. Good nutrition, breast feeding, reduction of health damaging behaviors like smoking are examples of preventive behaviors
- Utilisation behavior: Utilisation of health services such as antenatal care, child health, immunisation, family planning...etc
- Illness behavior: Recognition of early symptoms and prompt self-referral for treatment.
- Compliance behaviors: Following a course of prescribed drugs such as for tuberculosis.
- Rehabilitation behaviors: What people need to do after a serious illness to prevent further disability. For example: Practising walking after injuring your leg or talking after a stroke.
- Community Action: Actions by individuals and groups to change and improve their surroundings to meet special needs.