Contents of lay illness models dimensions for physical and mental diseases and implications for health professionals

Objective: The main aim of this study was to establish the contents of the lay illness models on depression, cancer, hypertension, schizophrenia and influenza in healthy and ill people suffering from these diseases who have/have not coexisted with people with these health alterations. Methods: Dimensions of lay illness models for depression, schizophrenia, cancer, hypertension and influenza were assessed in 348 people (62.6% women) aged 13-50 (M = 20.72; S.D. = 5.96) with different personal experience with the studied diseases. Results: Lay illness beliefs are usually close to medical knowledge, but in some relevant cases they are very divergent from this. Experience with the disease (to have suffered from it or to have coexisted with an ill relative) seems to have a great influence in the contents of lay illness models. Conclusion: People's representations on illnesses are not complete or correct at all, and this will have, as the Common Sense Model establishes, relevant repercussions on individuals' behaviors in relation to health and illness and on the outcomes of diseases. Practice implications: To know the personal illness models for physical and mental health threats of healthy and ill people with different personal experience with the disease has important implications for health professionals' promotion and prevention strategies and clinical (treatment/rehabilitation) actuations. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.