History and Orientation
The Health Belief Model (HBM) is a psychological model that attempts to explain and predict health behaviors based on an individuals attitudes and beliefs of individuals. It was first developed in the 1950s by social psychologists employed by the U.S. Public Health Services. The most recent work has been executed to explore the long- and short-term health behaviors affiliated with sexually risky behaviors such as HIV/AIDS transmission.
Core Assumptions and Statements
The HBM is based on the understanding that a person will take a health-related action (i.e., take St. John’s wort) if they:
- Feel they are experiencing feelings of depression can be avoided,
- Have a positive expectation that by taking St. John’s wort (or any other doctor recommended action) to avoid further feelings of negativity.
- Believes that he/she can successfully commit to the above with confidence.
The Health Belief Model is predicated upon four perceived threats. 1. Perceived susceptibility 2. Perceived severity. 3. Perceived benefits 4.Perceived barriers.
These concepts were proposed as accounting for people’s “readiness to act.” An added concept, cues to action, activate that readiness and stimulate overt behavior. Recently, the Public Health Services has added the concept of self-efficacy (or one’s confidence in the ability to successfully perform an action) to help the Health Belief Model to better fit the challenges of changing habitual unhealthy behaviors, such as engaging in negative esteem behaviors like: taking illegal drugs, alcohol, no exercise, overeating . . . Please review the following table appropriated from, “Theory at a Glance: A Guide for Health Promotion Practice” (1997)
|Perceived Susceptibility||One’s opinion of chances of getting a condition||Define population(s) at risk, risk levels; personalize risk based on a person’s features or behavior; heighten perceived susceptibility if too low.|
|Perceived Severity||One’s opinion of how serious a condition and its consequences are||Specify consequences of the risk and the condition|
|Perceived Benefits||One’s belief in the efficacy of the advised action to reduce risk or seriousness of impact||Define action to take; how, where, when; clarify the positive effects to be expected.|
|Perceived Barriers||One’s opinion of the tangible and psychological costs of the advised action||Identify and reduce barriers through reassurance, incentives, assistance.|
|Cues to Action||Strategies to activate “readiness”||Provide how-to information, promote awareness, reminders.|
|Self-Efficacy||Confidence in one’s ability to take action||Provide training, guidance in performing action.|
Source: Glanz et al, 2002, p. 52
Scope and Application
The Health Belief Model has been applied to a broad range of health behaviors and subject populations. Three broad areas can be identified:
- Preventive health behaviors, which include health-promoting (e.g. diet, exercise) and health-risk (e.g. smoking) behaviors as well as vaccination and contraceptive practices.
- Sick role behaviors, which refer to compliance with recommended medical regimens, usually following professional diagnosis of illness.
- Clinic use, which includes physician visits for a variety of reasons.
This is an example from two sexual health actions. (http://www.etr.org/recapp/theories/hbm/Resources.htm)
|Concept||Condom Use Education Example||STI Screening or HIV Testing|
|1. Perceived Susceptibility||Youth believe they can get STIs or HIV or create a pregnancy.||Youth believe they may have been exposed to STIs or HIV.|
|2. Perceived Severity||Youth believe that the consequences of getting STIs or HIV or creating a pregnancy are significant enough to try to avoid.||Youth believe the consequences of having STIs or HIV without knowledge or treatment are significant enough to try to avoid.|
|3. Perceived Benefits||Youth believe that the recommended action of using condoms would protect them from getting STIs or HIV or creating a pregnancy.||Youth believe that the recommended action of getting tested for STIs and HIV would benefit them — possibly by allowing them to get early treatment or preventing them from infecting others.|
|4. Perceived Barriers||Youth identify their personal barriers to using condoms (i.e., condoms limit the feeling or they are too embarrassed to talk to their partner about it) and explore ways to eliminate or reduce these barriers (i.e., teach them to put lubricant inside the condom to increase sensation for the male and have them practice condom communication skills to decrease their embarrassment level).||Youth identify their personal barriers to getting tested (i.e., getting to the clinic or being seen at the clinic by someone they know) and explore ways to eliminate or reduce these barriers (i.e., brainstorm transportation and disguise options).|
|5. Cues to Action||Youth receive reminder cues for action in the form of incentives (such as pencils with the printed message “no glove, no love”) or reminder messages (such as messages in the school newsletter).||Youth receive reminder cues for action in the form of incentives (such as a key chain that says, “Got sex? Get tested!”) or reminder messages (such as posters that say, “25% of sexually active teens contract an STI. Are you one of them? Find out now”).|
|6. Self-Efficacy||Youth confident in using a condom correctly in all circumstances.||Youth receive guidance (such as information on where to get tested) or training (such as practice in making an appointment).|