New HERBERT Case Study 2022

Running head: HERBERT CASE STUDY 1
Introduction
Health is wealth. Therefore it is a personal responsibility to keep healthy by voiding some of
the activities and behaviours which will negatively impact their health status. The thesis of
the essay paper presented is based on the health status of an aging man of about 65 years of
age living in the coastal region with his wife. The essay paper further discuss the health
condition of Hebert following his health complication as he is suffering from various illness
like chronic hypertension and obesity.
The essay provides some of the factors which affects health decisions and behaviours in
relation to the Herbert’s health complication giving into details some of the healthy practices
one is expected to practices and health decision to ensure better health of an individual. By
using Mr Herbert’s health condition, casual agents which can lead to the mentioned health
complication and possible ways to prevent and control the complications are discussed in the
context below. Treatment procedures for such illness are also discussed in order to help
control such complications.
Various aspects of health are discussed in the essay presented as they provides health
complications and their prevention measures, they include health promotion and illness,
Psycho-physiological aspects of health.

HERBERT CASE STUDY 2
Introduction to the client
Herbert is an aging man, who is 65 years of age. He is married, and live with his wife
in the coastal town. He has a health issue of chronic hypertension and obesity. At his part-
time, he works as a gardener in his local retirement village, and he has personal and financial
struggles. Herbert has reached his chronic age of late adulthood. Late adulthood is generally
considered to begin at about the age of 65 (Cramer, 2017, p.540).
According to the case study, Herbert is not a healthy man. It can be identified that
Herbert has both disease and illness symptoms. Disease is generally defined as an abnormal
state of the body that is diagnosed by a medical physician or qualified observer (Akhade &
Lakhe, 2016, p. 762). While illness means a health condition that an individual identifies
himself or herself with. Illness can be based on mental or physical symptoms (Mouratidi,
Bonoti, and Leondari, 2016, p. 432). It can be determined that Herbert has chronic
hypertension disease and he is overweight meaning when diagnosed he can be having obesity
disease. Moreover, he has mental and physical symptoms, which can be defined as an illness.
In recent time, he is also experiencing problems with vision and most of the time, he finds
hard to perform manual task. He is also experiencing stress illness because he has many
health issues in his body, financial problem, and difficulties in his marriage (Heinze et al.
2015, p.270).
Bio-psychosocial model of health can be applied in the case of Herbert. The bio-
psychosocial model of health is a framework that states that interaction between
psychological, social, and psychological factors determine the cause, manifestation, and
outcome of wellness (Cowley and Collins, 2016, p.371). This can be reflected in the case
study of Herbert, where he experiences all the symptoms recorded in the bio-psychosocial
model of health. Herbert health state is the outcome of the number of reasons. Example,

HERBERT CASE STUDY 3
Herbert has poor lifestyle behaviour of drinking alcohol, diet, and inactivity (psychological)
and also has physical symptoms hypertension, low immunity system, obesity and vision
problem (physical), which cause difficulties in his marriage (social) (Babalola, Noel, &
White, 2017, p. 293). He also experiences stress and anxiety in regards to his financial status,
health issues, and difficulties in his marriage (psychological) (Babalola, Noel, & White, 2017,
p. 293).
Factor affecting health decision and behaviour
Complex social environment are the risk factors that are the characteristics in person
surroundings that can be detrimental for the health of the individual or society (Roehrle &
Strouse, 2019, p.1). In the case study, Herbert has two social environments or domains of
influence; these are home and the local hotel. In this case, Herbert, most of the time, spends
playing pokies at the local hotel, and as a consequence, they are suffering from some financial
issues. At home, he got stress from his wife as she keeps threatening him to leave him. In this
context, the concept of Locus of control can be discussed which is a degree of personality
psychology in which people believe they have control over every situation that affects their
lives and also blame outside forces for any adverse outcomes (Cobb-Clark, Kassenboehmer &
Sinning, 2016, p. 1). Herbert complains about everything, and he is making his own decision,
which reflects his internal locus of control attitude.
Also, there are some social influences associated with his health and behaviour. Social
influence refers to how all the external factors alter their behaviour (Taylor & Eckles, 2018,
p. 2). Unhealthy lifestyle, low self-esteem, exclusion, isolation, and on-going stress are the
five social influences in Herbert life that is affecting his health. In this case, Herbert poor
financial condition and absence of social contact lead him to social isolation. Herbert low
esteem is characterized by feeling bad about him and a lack of confidence. In Herbert life, an

HERBERT CASE STUDY 4
unhealthy lifestyle is caused by alcohol, lack of physical activity, and unhealthy eating. On-
going stress is due to his relationship problem with his wife, financial status, weight problem,
and current medical problem. In turns, all these mechanisms lead him to obesity, alter blood
pressure response, decrease immunity and anxiety, that place Herbert at risk for adverse
health and functioning outcomes (Lee & Hanna, 2015 p.139).
Inequality refers to the quality of not being equal like others, which depict the
difference (Gimpelson & Treisman, 2018, p.2). In Herbert case, he faces many health issues,
strength problem, and financial condition, but unlike other people of his society. In turns, all
these inequality factors are harmful because it put him in a hierarchy, which reduces social
cohesion; increase competition for status, insecurity, and stress, leading him to poor health
and other negative outcomes. Culture is a social behaviour found in human societies that
reflects ideas, customs of a particular people or society (Storey, 2018, p.1). Poor lifestyle
behaviour is the cultural influence in Herbert life that affecting his health. Eating junk food
and drinking alcohol can be seen as a status in some societies (Inglehart, 2018, p.34). On the
case, it can be reflected in the behaviour culture of Herbert, where he changes his lifestyle of
eating junk food and drinks much of the wine. In turns, all these mechanisms lead him to
obesity, alter blood pressure response and decrease immunity, that place Herbert at risk for
adverse health and functioning outcomes (Lee & Hanna, 2015 p. 138).
Psycho-physiological aspects of health
Psychosomatic can be defined as the physical disease, which is caused or made worse
by mental factors (Fava, Cosci and Sanino, 2017 p.15). The body symptoms involve both the
mind and the body of the individual. This means the mental health of the individual, such as
anxiety or stress, can affect the physical state of the individual. This can be linked in the case
where Herbert feels fatigued or challenging to perform the manual task. The psychosomatic