Cancer risk and preventive behavior: persuasion as an intervention strategy

Abstract

. This epidemiological information is essential for planning health promotion actions, early detection and care at all levels.Cancer is often diagnosed when already in advanced phases, which not only worsens its prognosis but also increases mortality. Prevention, in this case, is essential for reducing morbidity and mortality and improving patients' quality of life (5) . Thus, its control mainly depends on actions in the areas of health promotion, specific protection and early diagnosis of the disease.Information regarding the contribution of a risk factor to global rates of the disease in populations, and not only in exposed individuals, is useful to decide which risk factors are particularly important, and which are not so important for global community health. It can provide information to health policymakers on how to choose priorities for the use of health resources.A relatively weak risk factor, but highly prevalent in the community, can be responsible for a higher incidence of the disease than a stronger factor of lower prevalence level (6) .Further studies in this area are needed, so that the population can use the information to adopt healthier life styles, especially studies that aim to assess not only a population's risk of cancer, but also the effective persuasion of information about these risk factors and their prevention.The probability of an undesirable event to occur is considered a risk (7) , an association to a higher risk of becoming ill. Even if it does not cause the disease, its presence allows us to predict the probability that a certain disease will occur (6) .The etiology of cancer is multi-causal, that is, it results from the interaction of several factors, which increase, to a greater or lesser extent, the probability that an individual will be affected by the disease, that is, the risk factors related to cancer. On the other hand, factors that grant the body a lower probability of acquiring a disease are called protection factors (7) . Thus, to reduce the impact of cancer, it is first necessary to reduce the prevalence of behavioral and environmental factors that increase its risk. .Health, as well as other fields, needs communication strategies that meet the goals of a persuasive message, taking into account that it depends on differentiated approaches and appeals in relation to its objectives, language and public receiving the message.The process of persuasion, in the adopted model (9) , refers to the effects a message causes on the receiver, relevant and useful for the achievement of the source's desired goal. Some criteria are related to this definition: 1) relevance of effects for the source's objectives; 2) persuasion instrumentality, that is, the means or actions used to reach the goal, with possible actions being adoption, permanence, dissuasion and discontinuity; 3) the importance of messages, which can be verbal and non-verbal or a combination of both; 4) the involvement of choice, that is, the illusion of choice; and 5) the personal and interpersonal nature of the persuasio...

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