Osteoporosis and Role Theory

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Osteoporosis and Role Theory
Osteoporosis is a health condition that is associated with the decreased density of bone and weakening of bone microstructure that leads to the increased risk of fracture. Currently, the Osteoporosis health condition poses major health implications in the global society. The disease is recognized as a silent disease because its symptoms cannot be seen or observed. Some of the symptoms that can be observed are the regular experience of back pain, weight loss, and experiencing a hunched back. Despite the understanding that the condition may not be fatal, it can make human bones to be at a high risk for fractures and making movements can be significantly difficult. Osteoporosis is the main cause of occurrence of fractures in areas such as the spine, ribs, wrists, and hips in the aging persons. The occurrence of the diseases does not only result from loss of calcium from the bones, but also the organic matrix of the bone that fundamentally is constituted by collagen and certain proteins.
Medical researchers illustrate that the group of people that are at higher risk of having the osteoporosis condition are those that are at the post-menopausal age, small-boned, slender individuals and the fair complexioned Caucasian females (Tussing & Chapman-Novakofski, 2005). Men are at lower risk than women, because they acquire bones that are congenitally denser and they are capable of sustaining weight through performing exercises for longer hours.

The risk of osteoporosis health condition increases after the menopause age for women because of the dramatic decrease of the sex hormone named estrogen. Women who are above fifty years old, do not necessarily continue to maintain their estrogen hormone levels because they cannot get pregnant. The reduction of estrogen levels in the body highly results in the diminished production of Vitamin D that is essential for absorption of calcium (Tussing & Chapman-Novakofski, 2005). This health fact, causes the doctors to regularly administer small doses of artificial estrogen to females who are in the menopause age. Also, stomach acid is crucial for the absorption of calcium and therefore there is need to ingest food substances that help in this process.
Social cognitive theory
The social cognitive theory is crucial for the prevention of the occurrence of osteoporosis health condition. It involves the self-regulation aspects that can be used to compensate for the bone deficiencies and overall health (Jeihooni et al., 2016). In this case, social support is related to acquiring the necessary assistance from other individuals. It also enables a person to feel self-worth and sense of belonging to a certain social set-up. Therefore, self-regulation entails modification of a person’s behavior through conducting self-observations. It involves a consistent process of formulating a health purpose, following through, achieving health goals and formulating other new health purposes. In this perspective, the social cognitive theory focuses on a person’s eating behaviors in the prevention of osteoporosis health condition.
The aspect of self-regulation refers to monitoring oneself to reach health goals. This technique can assist an individual to recognize health barriers and solve them. Medical studies stress that osteoporosis as a health condition can be prevented through a change of behaviors and increased health assistance. Further, there are two main ways in which social support affect the control of osteoporosis health condition. Firstly, it promotes and encourages positive health behaviors and secondly modulates health effects through helping the patients to cope with stresses that arise from osteoporosis disease (Jeihooni et al., 2016).
The Dimensions of Wellness
Dimensions of Wellness are crucial for restoring healthy conditions among the sick and disabled. The process is used to keep person healthy and active with the aim of slowing health decline. Social interaction is a crucial part of a wellness program. Studies reveal that geriatrics who had increased their level of socialization had fundamentally influenced the prognosis of health conditions such as osteoporosis and arthritis (Gignac et al., 2006). Further, the osteoporosis condition can trigger negative emotions such as the belief that a person is aging and is fragile. Osteoporosis is mostly detected after an individual breaks a bone and causes minor injury. This may cause individuals to become tentative and begin developing negative emotions that may cause loss of confidence
Countering these negative emotions is essential for individuals suffering from osteoporosis in order to manage their condition. Health facts show that there is no cure for osteoporosis condition, however, there are medical steps to prevent its progress. This involves a change of eating behaviors through consuming foods that are rich in calcium for bone construction and foods that have high vitamin D to allow the absorption of calcium. Moreover, individuals should undertake some level of exercise such as making simple movements regularly. This causes the bone to be stressed to facilitate its growth. Performing regular physical exercises adds weight to the bone and for motivational purposes, it is important to acquire social support such as exercising with friends and taking walks (Hoeger et al. 2018).
In summary, the osteoporosis condition arises from continuing bone weaknesses that highly results from bad feeding habits and lifestyle. The disease cannot be easily detected unless there is the occurrence of fracture in a person’s body. The condition may not have a cure but there is a wellness procedure that facilitates the prevention of disease progress such as keeping positive emotions, conducting physical exercises, having social support, and intellectual aspects. These dimensions of wellness are crucial for the development of healthy behaviors for both the individuals that are affected and not affected by osteoporosis condition.
References
Gignac, M. A., Davis, A. M., Hawker, G., Wright, J. G., Mahomed, N., Fortin, P. R., & Badley, E. M. (2006). “What do you expect? You’re just getting older”: A comparison of perceived osteoarthritis‐related and aging‐related health experiences in middle‐and older‐age adults. Arthritis Care & Research, 55(6), 905-912.
Hoeger, W. W., Hoeger, S. A., Hoeger, C. I., & Fawson, A. L. (2018). A lifetime of Physical Fitness and Wellness. Cengage Learning.
Jeihooni, A. K., Hidarnia, A., Kaveh, M. H., Hajizadeh, E., & Askari, A. (2016). Application of the health belief model and social cognitive theory for osteoporosis preventive nutritional behaviors in a sample of Iranian women. Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research, 21(2), 131.
Tussing, L., & Chapman-Novakofski, K. (2005). Osteoporosis prevention education: behavior theories and calcium intake. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 105(1), 92-97.