Health Belief Model
This model explains and predicts the health behaviors individuals undertake.
The Health Belief Model supposes that:
- persons believe hey can avoid a negative health condition (e.g., obesity),
- persons expect positive results if they take recommended actions to avoid negative health conditions,
- people believe that they can successfully take those recommended health steps leading to positive health.
Components of the model include:
- perceived susceptibility – one’s opinion of their chances of having a particular health condition (e.g., health disease)
- perceived benefits – one’s belief that recommended health actions will reduce the risk of a particular health condition (e.g., believing that walking programs are beneficial)
- perceived barrier – one’s view of the costs of the recommended action. Specifically, costs can be real such as fees or time, and costs can be social/psychological such as giving up rewarding yourself with a high-fat dessert for a “good job”.
The combination of these components explain a person’s readiness and willingness to act which is also influenced by a person’s self-efficacy, their mental state to take control and their confidence in their ability to perform and master the recommended action (e.g., maintaining a physical activity plan).