Study on Public Health Behavior against the Background of COVID-19 Pandemic -Based on Bandura Reciprocal Determinism

Di Haopu,Wang Shuling

(School of Business Administration,Shenyang Pharmaceutical University,Shenyang 110016,China)

Abstract Objective To explore the factors influencing public health behaviors in China in the context of COVID-19 pandemic,and to propose suggestions and countermeasures for enhancing public health behaviors.Methods A public health behavior system based on Bandura’s reciprocal determinism was constructed,and public health behavior was analyzed from the perspective of the interaction of health awareness,health behavior and environment.Results and Conclusion The public health behavior was analyzed through the public health behavior system based on Bandura’s reciprocal determinism,and the results and conclusions were draw.The public can be urged to develop better health beliefs and form better health behaviors by strengthening publicity and interventions,improving personal awareness,and increasing government investment.

Keywords: COVID-19;public health behavior;Bandura reciprocal determinism

With the improvement of socio-economic environment and medical technology,the average life expectancy of modern people has also increased.However,a longer life expectancy does not mean a better quality of life.In order to have a better quality of life,modern people should maintain a good and healthy lifestyle.In other words,the health of modern people not only depends on their physical condition,but also on health awareness and lifestyle[1,2].

People are more likely to develop unhealthy lifestyles in the face of both pandemic and quarantine pressures.Both national and international studies have pointed out that the individual’s assessment of his or her health status influences the health behaviors[3-5].In addition,there is a significant correlation between individual health status and health behaviors.In this paper,we use Bandura reciprocal determinism to study the factors that influence public health behaviors and make suggestions for the formation of good public health behaviors.

1 Rationale for public health behavior research

1.1 Implications of Bandura reciprocal determinism

In the 1960s,psychologist Bandura put forward the reciprocal determinism based on the study of Levin model.He believed that behaviors,human factors,and environmental factors actually act as interconnected,interacting determinants[6,7].In reciprocal determinism,Bandura def ined “reciprocal”as the interaction between things,and “determinism”as the product of the influence of things,which included three elements: individual,behavior,and environment.Individuals mainly include thinking,cognition,self-evaluation and other factors,behavior is divided into potential behavior and actual behavior,and the environment determines the performance of individual innovation ability and the achievement of innovation results.Bandura suggests that the environment,people,and their behavior are mutually causal,and each of them has a two-way decision and interaction relationship,thus forming a system (Fig.1).

Fig.1 Connotation of Bandura reciprocal determinism

In Fig.1,B represents behavior,P represents person,E represents environment,and the arrow represents the direction of causality.

Bandura reciprocal determinism provides an important theoretical basis for analyzing public health behaviors in the context of COVID-19 pandemic and can be analyzed in depth by drawing on this theory.According to Bandura reciprocal determinism,three factors such as health behavior,health awareness,and environment,interact and jointly inf luence each other.

1.2 Interaction between health behavior and environment

Health behaviors and the environment interact and inf luence each other.On the one hand,the general environment of temporal and spatial interval blockage brought by the post pandemic era inf luences people’s health behaviors.During COVID-19 pandemic period,residents performed relatively well in terms of basic personal protection and social detachment.However,a certain percentage of the population also adopted overprotective behaviors.While the pandemic was raging quickly,people reduced the need for crowd gathering activities and tended to stay at home.Residents adopted behaviors in the form of frequent hand washing,fitness,adequate sleep,and healthy eating during this period.It is estimated by the scientif ic community,including the World Health Organization,that the novel coronavirus will coexist with humans for a long time in the post-pandemic era.Even though experts point out that masks can be removed in open outdoor places,wearing a face mask when traveling has become a behavioral habit for the vast majority of residents.On the other hand,people’s healthy behaviors such as frequent hand washing,and window opening are also conducive to providing a good environment for the prevention and control of the pandemic.The healthy behaviors formed during this period have somewhat hindered the possibility of a major resurgence of the pandemic in the future.Solidarity and self-disciplined health behaviors inhibit the recurrence[8,9]of public health crisis events.

1.3 Interaction between environment and health awareness

Environment and health awareness inf luence and interact with each other.On the one hand,individuals live in the environment,and their health awareness is inevitably inf luenced by the comprehensive inf luence of the living environment.For example,in terms of diet,modern people pay more attention to the trend of healthy diet,however,for a long time,there are some deviations between cognition and action in modern people’s diet,and modern people’s diet concept will be inf luenced by the social trend.On the other hand,individual health awareness and cognitive level can also influence the environment.In this wave of public health emergencies,individuals in the social environment felt the impact of the pandemic on their lives from diff erent perspectives,and people gradually realized the importance of good health behaviors to strengthen their immunity and improve their physical quality,thus raising their health awareness.

1.4 Interaction between health behavior and health awareness

Health behaviors and health awareness inf luence each other and interact with each other.On the one hand,the higher the public health awareness is,the better it is for the public to develop relevant health behaviors.The knowledge and skills people acquire from health education do not always change into health behaviors.How to make the public take the initiative to adopt health behaviors is not only to make people aware of the fact that NCCP threatens their physical health,but also to enhance people’s health awareness so that they can realize the benef its brought by health behaviors,while prompting them to form good health behaviors.On the other hand,people will be more concerned about getting information on health maintenance and keeping a healthy state,enhancing health awareness and forming protection for individuals after forming the habit of developing new health behaviors.After experiencing a big public health event,people will have more thinking about health awareness[10].

2 Public health behavior system based on Bandura reciprocal determinism

2.1 System construction

Drawing on Bandura’s reciprocal determinism,each of the three factors,health awareness,health behavior and environment,has a two-way decision and interaction relationship with each other,thus forming a public health behavior system.Therefore,it is believed that a scientif ic and reasonable evaluation of public health behavior should revolve around the three factors of health awareness,health behavior and environment (Fig.2).

Fig.2 Public health behavior system based on Bandura reciprocal determinism

2.2 Health awareness factors

The formation of health awareness requires a high level of individual literacy and it has a greater correlation with environmental guidelines.Relying solely on residents’ personal judgment does not necessarily lead to behaviors that are beneficial to their health.Against the background of COVID-19 pandemic,absolute importance was shown to personal protection and family protection.The public has been prompted to raise their health awareness in the pandemic environment through media campaigns and science education.It is important to note that health awareness will continue to influence people’s behaviors.And since health awareness can guide people’s health behaviors,popularizing health knowledge to the public and deepening people’s health awareness will help the public to enhance their health behaviors.

2.3 Health behavior factors

The spread of novel coronavirus has taught people a valuable lesson about the importance of health behaviors.The special social environment under the pandemic led to a rethinking of lifestyles and the formation of behavioral guidelines for good behavioral performance.Enhancing individual health behaviors,improving individual health awareness and consciousness can help people form a normal healthy lifestyle.For example,moderate exercise can bring not only a young mental outlook and a healthy body,but also a healthy lifestyle that accompanies a lifetime.

2.4 Environment factors

In the context of the pandemic,environment factors include both offline and online environments.The government can guide enterprises,shopping malls and other places where people gather to adopt correct prevention and control methods to ensure that residents’ health.This environment can make residents feel safe and secure when they move around to run errands.Due to the characteristics of human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus,the government requires residents to stay at home and work online in the process of pandemic prevention and control.Besides,part of the pandemic prevention and control work is also carried out online to protect people’s lives and health.Based on Internet,a big data-based intelligent service platform can be built to solve the contradiction between pandemic prevention and control and the normal operation of the society,which can alleviate the blockade to a certain extent.

3 Recommendation

3.1 Strengthening advocacy

In times of pandemics,the public usually protects themselves through certain health activities.Health education can help the public to increase their awareness of infectious disease prevention,thus improving their ability to take precautions.In addition,these people are usually more willing to engage in good health activities.The public can obtain information about the pandemic through various channels,among which social media platforms,newspapers and magazines can influence their health behaviors.Newspapers and magazines are relatively more authentic sources of information that have good guidance for residents to adopt healthy behaviors.

Understanding and believing preventive measures of disease can influence the process of forming health behaviors among the public.Therefore,prevention becomes an important link in disease control,which can guide behaviors.The mastery of prevention measures can reflect people’s awareness of diseases,and the higher the awareness,the more conducive it is to develop relevant health behaviors.Preventive measures influence public health behaviors because there is a positive correlation between health awareness and health behaviors,and people’s health awareness does not always change into health behaviors.Therefore,it is necessary to increase the publicity and dissemination of healthrelated knowledge so that the public can continuously enhance health awareness and promote the formation of public health behaviors.

3.2 Raising personal health awareness

As people pay more attention to health problems,they will carry out regular health check-ups,which can detect chronic diseases and give targeted treatment in time.To improve the quality of life and health,it is important to check physical conditions early and provide timely prevention and targeted treatment.

Regular medical checkups can detect painless or less obvious diseases,which can help people from avoid the rapid development of diseases.In China,most people always wait until they find symptoms before going to the hospital for checkups.However,some early-stage cancers often do not show anything,and when the symptoms appear,it may already be too late for patients to miss the best treatment time.Some patients with hypertension and diabetes have been taking medication but they do not know how effective the medication is.To prevent and treat chronic diseases,it is important to have regular medical checkups,which help monitor the development of the disease.Some people see that everything is normal after the physical examination,so they think they are fine and do not have a physical examination for several years.But human body is a dynamic system,which changes slightly every day.The results of a physical examination do not have long-term significance.Medical checkups should be insisted on regularly to detect diseases in time,which is beneficial to people’s health.

Moreover,regular medical checkups are even more important.Regular medical checkups can tell people’s health status and detect diseases that do not show clinical symptoms.Then,doctors or experts can inhibit the occurrence and development of diseases through a series of methods and means such as changing bad habits and diet.

3.3 Normalizing healthy living

Online platforms have been developed to implement smart prevention and control of the pandemic.For example,during the COVID-19 pandemic,a series of technical innovations were made on the Internet platform.By developing an online application APP to improve services,the government provided more convenience for the prevention and control of the pandemic.People could enjoy new services with familiar software,thus avoiding the waste of time for people to adapt to brand new software.The innovation of new services,especially for some special groups,is conductive for them to develop good life habits.Governments and communities should help people build health awareness in the face of public health issues.Social media,posters,and other means should be used to promote health awareness.For example,when people gather in groups,they can adopt a group dining method of using communal chopsticks for dishes or having a meal sharing system.In crowded places,people should wear a mask first to avoid being infected.Experts ensure people’s daily health protection by scientifically calling on them to adopt a regular lifestyle with a reasonable and healthy diet,adequate sleep,good rest,and moderate physical exercise.At the same time,the basic protection,incentive praise and psychological services for frontline community workers are effectively supported.Besides,the institutional and political advantages of socialism of concentrating efforts on practical and major issues should be given full play to prevent and control the fast spread of novel coronavirus.The concept of people first and life first should be kept in mind by all the civil servants while enhancing the sense of Chinese national community.People of all ethnic groups should take the initiative to participate in fighting against the COVID-19.

4 Summary

During the COVID-19 pandemic,health education and promotion to the public through various channels can not only better guide the public to protect themselves from the virus,but also help them form good health behaviors and health beliefs.Therefore,they can understand the benefits of healthy behaviors to promote the development of their behaviors.