Postpartum Depression Theory Selection Essay Paper

Theory Selection and Critical Analysis

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a serious mental illness that involves the brain and affects physical health and behavior in women after childbirth. In this case, women who have experienced childbirth report feeling empty, sad or hopeless within days of the childbirth. The condition becomes a concern when the symptoms persist and interfere with day-to-day life causing the mother to feel unconnected to the new born. Approximately 1.2% of new mothers experience the condition and report grief about lost life, stress from changes, being overwhelmed, and tiredness. Although ‘baby’ blues are common among new mothers, PPD presents a concern since it involves the ‘baby blues’ persisting for days after the childbirth with more severe symptoms, going for as long as one year after birth (Anderson, 2017). Despite being a concern, education and support are considered appropriate in addressing PPD. This involves applying anticipatory guidance and education that help the new mothers to identify the PPD at the earliest opportunity thus facilitating intervention measures. The education should be applied comprehensively during the prenatal period, briefly during hospitalization for birth, and reinforced post-discharge (McCarter-Spaulding & Shea, 2016). The purpose of this assignment is to reinforce the patient education approach to address PPD using the Health Belief Model (HBM).

Discussion

Description of HBM

HBM is a theoretical model applied in guiding patient education as an aspect of disease prevention and health promotion programs. It explains why patients may accept or reject the education program based on personal decision-making and motivation. The model proposes that patients will best respond to patient education if it meets four conditions. The first condition is patient belief that there is a risk of developing the condition. The second condition is the risk being serious and consequence for developing the condition being undesirable. The third condition is the risk being reduced by specific behavior change. The final condition is the barriers to behavior change being manageable and can be overcome (Hayden, 2014). In this respect, HBM models the conditions under which patient education can be optimized for the best results.

Purpose of HBM

The purpose of HBM is to target the patient education intervention through manipulating personal belief in the effectiveness of the recommended heath behavior and belief in the personal threat of the medical condition thus ensuring that the individual adopts the recommended behavior. Postpartum Depression Theory Selection Essay Paper It anticipates that ultimately, a patient’s course of action will depend on the perceptions of the barriers and benefits related to the recommended health behavior (Hayden, 2014).

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Concepts of HBM, Definitions and Relationships

HBM presents six concepts. Firstly, perceived susceptibility/threat that is concerned with an individual’s subjective perception of the risk of developing the disease. There is a wide deviation in each individual patient’s personal vulnerability to any disease with some of them being resistant to the idea of being vulnerable while others accept that they are vulnerable. Secondly, perceived severity (belief of consequences) that is concerned with personal feelings about the seriousness of developing the disease and leaving it untreated. Personal feelings of disease severity vary widely and range from social consequences (such as social relationships and family life) to medical consequences (such as disability and death). Thirdly, perceived benefits that is concerned with the potential positive benefits of engaging in the recommended behavior. They refer to personal perception of the effectiveness of the behavior in reducing the threat of the disease or curing it. The specific course of action that an individual will undertake to cure or prevent the disease will depend on evaluation and consideration of both perceived susceptibility and benefits such that an action becomes acceptable only if it is beneficial (Hayden, 2014).

Fourthly, perceived barriers that is concerned with personal feelings about obstacles to adopting the recommended health behavior. These impediments are typically considered in the cost-benefit analysis whereby the individual weights the effectiveness of engaging in the recommended behavior against the perception that it could be inconvenient, time-consuming, unpleasant, dangerous, or expensive. Fifthly, cue to action or exposure to that prompt the recommended behavior. It refers to the stimulus that triggers the decision-making process to either accept or reject the recommended behavior. The cues can be external (new reports, similar illness in others, advice from others, etc.) or internal (personally experiencing the disease symptoms). Finally, self-efficacy whereby a patient’s self-efficacy in his/her ability to successfully perform the recommended behavior. This concept directly relates to the intention and actual performance of the recommended behavior (Hayden, 2014).

Structure of HBM

HBM proposes that patients are most likely to be receptive to patient education and adopt recommended health behavior if they perceive that the risk presented by a health threat is serious, or if they feel that they are personally susceptible to the disease, or if the benefits of engaging in the recommended behavior exceed the costs. A central aspect of the model is that patients are most likely to adopt the recommended behavior if it addresses their specific perceptions about self-efficacy, barriers, benefits and susceptibility. In applying this model, medical personnel must provide patient education, personalized advice, and risk calculation and prediction (Hayden, 2014).

Assumptions in HBM

HBM is based on three main assumptions. The first assumption is the belief that the health concern is very important and must be taken into account. There is a need for an intervention in terms of prevention since the occurrence of the disease presents undesirable consequences. The second assumption is that an individual is vulnerable because of certain factors. Such as childbirth making mothers vulnerable to developing PPD. The third assumption is that any action undertaken must present greater benefits compared to the costs. The interaction of the three assumptions stimulates the adoption of healthy behaviors that avoid risky situations and prevent diseases (Villar et al., 2017).

HBM application in professional practice

HBM has three components to help perceive health threats. The first component is the general health values that refer to the concern and interest for an individual’s health. This asks the question of how much an individual cares about his/her health. The second component is the personal belief about vulnerability. This asks the question of whether the individual could suffer from the disease. The third component is belief about the risk and severity of the disease. This asks the question about how serious it would be to suffer from the disease. Applying the three components to PPD shows that patient education can help in achieving the desired behavior change by the patients being concerned about their health, believing that they are at high risk of developing PPD, and that suffering from the condition has serious negative consequences (Villar et al., 2017).

The disappearance or reduction of the perceived disease threat by adopting the recommended health behavior has two components. The first component is whether or not the patients thinks that the recommended action will be effective. The second component is the belief that the benefits from engaging in the recommended health behavior outweigh the costs. For instance, an individual may think she is vulnerable to PPD and could think about engaging in the recommended behavior as a strategy for reducing the risk of PPD, and although it would be hard to undertake the action, the ultimate benefits will be better than the potential harm so that behavior change become a logical decision (Villar et al., 2017).

Conclusion

One must accept that PPD is a serious mental illness that affects women after childbirth. In addition, one must acknowledge that patient education presents an opportunity for preventing PPD occurrence. HBM justifies patient education to address PPD through stimulating individual patients to adopt healthy behaviors that avoid risky situations and prevent diseases. As such, this essay reinforces the patient education approach to address PPD using HBM.

NUR700:  Structure and Application of Contemporary Nursing Knowledge

Theory Selection and Critical Analysis

For this assignment you will explore, identify, and critically analyze, a theory that could be used as a framework for directing the future actions of Postpartum depression (PPD) education or Postpartum depression signs and symptoms and/or overcoming PPD.  In addition, you will professionally reflect on your critical analysis and describe how exposure to a theory may lead an individual to think differently about their own experience, professional role, and future directions of their work

Assignment Guidelines:

To begin this assignment you will first select a theory.  The theory can be either borrowed or from the discipline of nursing.  After you select the theory, you will address each of the items below in a written scholarly paper.  The items reflect the processes involved in forming a complete description of a theory as discussed in Chapter 8 of Chinn and Kramer.

1. Begin this assignment with an introduction. The introduction should include a discussion that provides:

• A brief succinct overview of the professional experience and future actions of Postpartum depression (PPD) education and or Postpartum depression signs and symptoms/overcoming PPD.
• A statement that explains the purpose of the assignment (e.g., The purpose of this assignment is to……).

2. After your introduction, discuss the following content using appropriate APA level headings:

• Description of the Theory – Provide the name of the theory. Identify if the theory is borrowed, or if from the discipline of nursing.  Then, identify the author of the theory, and the date the theory was established. Utilize primary rather than secondary resources.
• Purpose of the Theory – Provide a descriptive summary of the purpose of the theory. In your summary specifically speak to the context and situations in which the theory is useful.  In your summary clearly identify how the purpose of this theory is linked to the future actions you identified in the Ways of Knowing
• Concepts of the Theory – Provide a descriptive summary of the concepts (words or groups of words that represent objects, properties, and / or events) within the theory. In your summary clearly identify how the concepts are linked to the future actions you identified in the Ways of Knowing
• Definitions in the Theory – Provide a clear definition for each concept that was identified. The definitions should be presented in conceptual terms within the context of the theory.
• Relationships in the Theory – Provide a descriptive summary of the linkages among and between the concepts associated with the theory.
• Structure of the Theory – Provide a clear description of the structure of the theory (choose from one of the examples on pg 195 of Chinn and Kramer). In your description clearly identify how you arrived at your conclusion.
• Assumptions in the Theory – Provide a clear description of the assumptions associated with the theory. In your description clearly identify if the assumptions are factual assumptions or value assumptions.  Also in your description clearly speak to how the exposure to differing assumptions may open new perceptions with regards to going “outside of the box” of common practice and procedures.
• Application to Professional Practice – Provide a descriptive summary your critical analysis findings. In your summary thoroughly discuss the application of the theory in terms of providing guidance for the future actions identified in the Ways of Knowing

3. End your paper with a conclusion. The conclusion should present a brief summary of the key takeaway points of the paper.  The conclusion should not present any new information.

Scholarly Writing Guidelines:

1. Grammar, spelling, and APA writing style will be graded according to doctoral level expectations. Please proofread carefully.
2. Your paper should be double-spaced with one inch margins, and include:
   1. A title page and a reference page (Note: all in-text citations and sources listed on the reference page should be according to APA 6^th edition).
   2. Times New Roman 12 pt font throughout entire document.
   3. Page numbers.
   4. A running head.
   5. APA 6^th edition formatted subject level headings.

References

Anderson, G. (2017). Postpartum Depression: Prevalence, Risk Factors and Outcomes. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Hayden, J. (2014). Introduction to Health Belief Model (2^nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

McCarter-Spaulding, D. & Shea, S. (2016). Effectiveness of Discharge Education on Postpartum Depression. MCN Am J Matern Child Nurs., 41(3), 168-172. DOI: 10.1097/NMC.0000000000000236

Villar, O., Montañez-Alvarado, P., Gutiérrez-Vega, M., Carrilo-Saucedo, I., Gurrola-Pena, G, … & Ochoa-Alcaraz, S. (2017). Factor structure and internal reliability of an exercise health belief model scale in a Mexican population. BMC Public Health, 17, 229. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-017-4150-x . Postpartum Depression Theory Selection Essay Paper