Health Belief Model

The Health Belief Model is commonly used for health promotion and health education. Its’ underlying concept is that health behavior is explained by perception of the disease and the strategies available to lower its occurrence. There are four perceptions of the HBM, which are perceived seriousness, perceived benefit, perceived susceptibility and perceived barriers. In addition to that, more constructs are added to health belief model that includes motivating factor, cues to action and self-efficacy. Each of these constructs in combination or individually, could be used to determine health behavior. The HBM also provides guidelines for the program development allowing planners to address reasons for non-compliance with recommended health action. The health belief model is a process used to promote healthy behavior among individuals who may be at risk of developing adverse health outcomes. A person must gauge their perceptions of severity and susceptibility of developing a disease. Then it is essential to feel vulnerable by these perceptions. Environmental factors can play a role as well as cues to action such as media, and close friends. In order to determine that taking action will be meaningful, the benefits to change must be weighed, against the barriers to change behavior (Green & Murphy, 2014).

The health belief model is composed of two factors that influences a person’s particular health behavior: the perceived health threat and the perceived threat reduction (pros and cons). Using the health belief model, there are three factors considered when perceiving a health threat: general health values, specific beliefs about personal vulnerability/susceptibility, and beliefs about the consequences of the disorder as well as the severity of it. In the scenario, Charles is a college student that smokes cigarettes and is fully aware of the risks and consequences associated with doing so because of the Surgeon General’s warning.

Per the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly one in three children age two to nineteen in America are obese or overweight, putting them at risk for serious comorbidities. Like many illnesses, obesity reduces the life expectancy and quality of life of those affected. The impact of obesity on children and adolescents’ physical, social and emotion wellbeing can be extremely devastating. The body mass index which most obese children suffer from limit their ability of be mobile. In addition to this, they may endure a change in their academic performance due to their health status. Obese children are less likely to perform to their full potential in school (Wang and Veugelers, 2013). On an emotional level, many obese children and adolescents suffer from low-self-esteem. These self-confidence issues may arise as they start feeling self-conscious about their weight. Unfortunately, at this age, kids tend to highly value their peers’ opinions. This can be negative or positive depending on the individual, but it is most likely going to be negative for obese children. Their peers’ opinions can impact the way they view themselves. Bullying can become a problem, as they constantly worry about their peers teasing them about their weight. It is not easy building self-confidence when one’s self-image is constantly are belittled and scrutinized. Per Wang and Veugelers (2013), a study shows that children’s self-esteem and academic performance decrease due to obesity. Adolescence is a phase in which a person builds and develops not only self-confidence, but his or her personality. Due to this fact, it is extremely important for them to have a strong self-esteem and personality as they grow Moreover, it is essential for policymakers to focus on creating programs to reduce obesity among children because it is the easiest, and best way to lower the national obesity rate. Children are constantly growing in

The Health Belief Model (HBM) of health behaviour change was originally developed in the 1950s in order to understand and explain why vaccination and screening programs being implemented at the time were not meeting with success (Edberg 2007). It was later extended to account for preventive health actions and illness behaviours (Roden 2004). Succinctly, it suggests that behaviour change is influenced by an individuals’ assessment of the benefits and achievability of the change versus the cost of it (Naidoo and Wills 2000).

In the 1950’s the health belief model (HBM) was introduced to explain why people who are healthy, continue to participate in activities that keep them free of illness; while others neglect to be involved with healthy activities (Pender, Murdaugh, & Parsons, 2015). PubMed was used to find this article with the limitations of an article written in the last five years, humans, and English; the Mesh words used was health belief model. The article Applying the health belief model to college students’ health behavior, written by Kim, Ahn, and No, in 2012, reviews the study done to explain the use of HBM on college students and healthy students. This paper will discuss the use of the health belief model, in college students, to determine if their knowledge of nutrition will affect their healthy behaviors.

The people who stand in this position believe that an individual should have choices in the items he or she buy, and be guilt-free. In the article “Childhood Obesity: A Global Public Health Issue” published in International Journal of Preventive Medicine”, writer Amar Kanekar states that the main cause of childhood obesity in today’s public health crisis in both developed and underdeveloped countries is because of the disproportion between the child’s caloric intake and the calories effectively used for growth/development and physical activities. To these people, what we eat is not the sole reason of the cause of obesity; genetic, behavioral, and environmental are all constituents of childhood obesity. Moreover, many health-related risks are present when a child is obese; negative body-image and low self-esteem inevitably result in psychological and social issues. Cardiovascular disease, increased cholesterol levels, and high blood pressure are all possible potential health risks involved and that there is, indeed, “preventive programs that help regulate obesity by educating individuals about healthy nutrition and diseases” (Kanekar 2). According to a report presented from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, in the years of 2007-2008, there was an estimation that “16.9% of children and adolescent in the age group of 2-19 years were obese…The data collected for the same period shows that the adolescent (age group 12-19 years)

The second leading cause of death related to cancer in the United States is colorectal cancer. The VA medical center has made it a priority to screen veterans 50 years and older via a fecal-occult blood test (FOBT), sigmoidoscopy, and/or colonoscopy. The VA tracked the number of FOBT cards given to patients and how many were returned. The demographics of those who did not return the cards include: non-Caucasian patients, women, smokers, those living in rural areas, patients with health literacy issues, and patients with cognitive conditions associated with age (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2014).

The barriers to health behavioural change are addictions, mental health, lifestyle, existing behaviour, ie not willing to change, peer pressure and a lack of support from peers make changing behaviour all the more difficult.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is stated that “every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. has a stroke” (“Stroke,” 2018). Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States, which include coronary heart disease, stroke, and other related conditions. There are various modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors associated with heart disease, such as age, family history, diet, physical inactivity, high blood pressure, and more (“2016 Community Health Assessment,” 2017). About 795,000 people suffer from stroke each year and it is more common among the elderly, ages 65 years and older, in the United States (“Stroke,” 2018). The consequences of stroke can be detrimental,

The Health Belief Model (HBM) is a model that attempts to explain and predict health behaviors (Glanz et al, 2008). This model focuses on the attitudes and beliefs of individuals. The Health Belief Model motivates people to take action. The HBM is based on the understanding that a person will take a health-related action using six key constructs: perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers, cues to action, and self-efficacy (Glanz et al, 2008).

Out of all the vaccine preventable diseases, pertussis challenges most infectious diseases in severity and importance in children. In 2014, the incidence rate of pertussis in the United States increased by 15%, with almost 33,000 cases reported (Centers for Disease Control, 2015). The bacterium that causes this illness attacks an unprotected immune by attaching to the lining of the respiratory system. After initial attack, begins the release of the toxins that prohibit the respiratory system from working functionally. Because of this, mucus builds up in the lungs, causing an uncontrollable cough that makes breathing difficult (Tan et al, 2005). This illness is very contagious and almost always deadly in children. However, it can be prevented with proper vaccination. This problem can be addressed with the Health Belief Model (HBM), which encourages preventive health actions in order to prevent unwanted adverse conditions, with the idea that action depends on the value and expectancy of the behavior.

Both the health belief model (HBM) and theories of reasoned action/planned behavior (TRA/TPB) are two model that has their root from psychology. Both models rely on social cognition as a mechanism to change individuals’ behaviors. Opponent criticizes the models for being unable to target social influence outside of an individual and overlook difference between target audiences.

When considering health psychology it is important to recognise the various models it is made up of. The basis of this essay will be to take a look at the health belief model and the theory of planned behaviour, considering their historical origins, the positives and negatives of applying these approaches and examples of when they have been used. After some analysis it may offer some insight into possible improvements that could be implemented from further research. Also included will be an overview of how the models compare to each other and critical evaluation of research from this field.

There are more than one billion overweigh adults in the world with at least three hundred of these adults being obese. In North America, obesity has increasingly become one of the most important public health problems (Flegal, Graubard, Williamson, & Gail 2005). With cases of obesity increasing, there has also been more exportation of research being done into the topic. Moreover, social, psychological and biological factors are being investigated to determine aspects that may influence the onset of obesity. This paper will focus on two specific domains of the biopsychosocial model of health with a focus on psychological and social factors that affect obesity.

The Health Belief Model (HBM) is one of the first theories of health behavior. It was developed in the 1950s by social psychologists in the U.S. Public Health Services to better understand the widespread failure of tuberculosis screening programs. Today it continues to be one of the most widely used theories. Research studies use it to explain and predict health behaviors seen in individuals. There is a broad range of health behaviors and subject populations that it is applied in. The concepts in the model involve perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, cues to action, and self-efficacy. Focusing on the attitudes and beliefs of individuals being studied create an understanding of their