The Health Belief Model – BMS Notes

Social scientists at the U.S. Public Health Service created the Health Belief Model (HBM) in the early 1950s to help them understand why individuals didn’t use screening tests for early illness diagnosis or disease preventive techniques. HBM was later used to patient reactions to symptoms and treatment compliance. According to the Health Belief Model (HBM), an individual’s perception of their own risk of sickness or disease, together with their perception of the efficacy of suggested health behaviours, may predict their probability of implementing such behaviours.

The core of the HBM is psychological and behavioural theory, which holds that the two main aspects of conduct connected to health are the desire to prevent sickness or, in the event that one is already ill, to recover.

the conviction that a certain course of action will either prevent or treat disease.

In the end, a person’s decision-making process is often influenced by how they see the advantages and disadvantages of engaging in healthy activity. The HBM consists of six structures. The foundational ideas of the HBM were created as the first four constructions. The last two were introduced as the HBM study progressed.

Sensitivity perception

This is a person’s subjective estimate of their likelihood of contracting a sickness or illness. People’s perceptions of their own susceptibility to sickness or disease vary greatly.

Severity as perceived

This is a reference to how someone feels about how severe it is to have a sickness or illness (or leaving the illness or disease untreated). There is great diversity in an individual’s perception of severity, and often, when assessing the severity, an individual takes into account both the social and medical ramifications (such as family life and social ties) as well as the potential for death or disability.

Benefits as perceived

This is a person’s assessment of the efficacy of several measures that may be taken to lessen the risk of sickness or disease (or to cure illness or disease). The approach a person chooses to avoid (or treat) sickness or disease depends on how they weigh perceived advantage against assessed vulnerability. In other words, if a person believes a suggested health measure would benefit them, they will do it.

Perceived obstacles

This is a reference to how someone feels about the challenges they face while following a health recommendation. People’s perceptions of obstacles, or barriers, vary greatly, which prompts a cost/benefit analysis. The individual compares the perceived cost, risk (e.g., adverse consequences), unpleasantness (e.g., pain), time commitment, or inconvenience to the acts’ efficacy.

Signal to move

This is the impetus required to start the process of accepting a suggested course of action for health. These indicators may be external (such as wheezing, chest aches, etc.) or internal (e.g., advice from others, illness of family member, newspaper article, etc.).

Self-efficacy

This speaks to a person’s degree of self-assurance in their capacity to carry out an action effectively. The most recent addition to the model was this build in the middle of 1980. Many behavioural theories include the concept of self-efficacy since it has a direct bearing on whether or not an individual engages in the intended activity.

Health Belief Model Drawbacks

• The HBM has a number of drawbacks that limit its applicability to public health. The following are some of the model’s limitations:
• It doesn’t take into consideration a person’s opinions, convictions, or other unique factors that influence their adoption of a health-related action.
• Habitual behaviours are not considered, which might influence the choice to adopt a suggested course of action (e.g., smoking).
• Behaviors carried out for non-health-related motives, such social acceptance, are not taken into consideration.
• It does not take into consideration economic or environmental issues that might support or hinder the suggested course of action.
• It is assumed that equal access to information about the sickness or condition is available to everybody.
• It is assumed that the primary objective of the decision-making process is to take “healthy” activities, and thus signals to action are often used to motivate individuals to take action.

The HBM does not provide a method for altering behaviours connected to health; instead, it is more descriptive than explicative. Early research on preventive health practises revealed that perceived obstacles, advantages, and susceptibility were all regularly linked to the desired health activity; perceived severity was less often linked to the desired health behaviour. Depending on the health result of interest, the individual constructs may be helpful, but the model works best when combined with additional models that take the environmental context into consideration and provide potential change management techniques