Health professionals health beliefs

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PLACEBOS AND THE INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BELIEFS, BEHAVIOUR AND HEALTH
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Fig. 13-3 The interrelationship between beliefs, behaviour and health
process may only occur if the individual believes that health professionals in white
coats can treat illness, that hospitals are where people get better and that medical
interventions should produce positive results. Patients’ beliefs may themselves be a
mechanism for explaining placebo effects. Perhaps the belief about a treatment has
either a direct effect on health through physiological changes, or an indirect effect via
behavioural change. For example, the belief that a treatment intervention will work, may
directly influence the individual’s immune system or alternatively may promote a change
in lifestyle.
Illness cognitions
For a placebo to have an effect, the individual needs to hold particular beliefs about their
illness. For example, if an illness is seen as long lasting without episodes of remission,
times of spontaneous recovery may not happen, which will therefore not be explained
in terms of the effectiveness of the treatment. Likewise, if an individual believes that
their illness has a medical cause then a placebo in the form of a pill would be effective.
However, if the individual believes that their illness is caused by their lifestyle, a pill
placebo may not be effective.
Health professionals’ health beliefs
Placebos may also be related to the beliefs of the health professionals. For example, a
doctor may need to believe in the intervention for it to have an effect. If the doctor
believes that an illness is the result of lifestyle, and can be cured by changes in that
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