ABSTRACT
Models of health behavior have shifted significantly in the last few decades to viewing the patient as an active, discriminating participant in health care procedures rather than as a passive recipient of the healing process. One of the forces behind this change has been a growing recognition in medicine that many acute medical crises can be averted by increased attention to prophylactic care (as for hypertension) and by encouraging patients to make life-style changes related to health promotion. Another of the forces behind this change has been the increasing weight of social psychological evidence concerning the importance of active control and decision making on the part of the patients for health, morbidity, and mortality (McMahon & Rhudick, 1964; Rodin, 1980; Rodin & Langer, 1977; Seligman, 1975; Taylor, 1979).
