Health Belief Model (HBM)

 

 

The Health Belief Model (HBM) is an intrapersonal (within the individual, knowledge and beliefs) theory used in health promotion to design intervention and prevention programs.

 It was designed in the 1950’s by Hockbaum and continues to be one of the most popular and widely used theories in intervention science.

The Health Belief Model (HBM) is one of the most widely used conceptual frameworks for understanding health behavior. It has been used with great success for almost half a century to promote greater condom use, seat belt use, medical compliance, and health screening use, to name a few behaviors.

The Health Belief Model is a framework for motivating people to take positive health actions that uses the desire to avoid a negative health consequence as the prime motivation. For example, HIV is a negative health consequence, and the desire to avoid HIV can be used to motivate sexually active people into practicing safe sex. Similarly, the perceived threat of a heart attack can be used to motivate a person with high blood pressure into exercising more often.

 

 

Health Belief Model: Major Concepts

HBM is based on six key concepts. The following table, excerpted with minor modifications from "Theory at a Glance: A Guide for Health Promotion Practice" (1997), presents definitions and applications for each of the six key concepts. Examples of the concepts as they apply to sexuality education are presented after this table.

Concept	Definition	Application
1. Perceived Susceptibility	One's belief of the chances of getting a condition	Define population(s) at risk and their risk levels Personalize risk based on a person's traits or behaviors Heighten perceived susceptibiity if too low
2. Perceived Severity	One's belief of how serious a condition and its consequences are	Specify and describe consequences of the risk and the condition
3. 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 expected Describe evidence of effectiveness
4. Perceived Barriers	One's belief in the tangible and psychological costs of the advised behavior	Identify and reduce barriers through reassurance, incentives, and assistance
5. Cues to Action	Strategies to activate "readiness"	Provide how-to information Promote awareness Provide reminders
6. Self-Efficacy	Confidence in one's ability to take action	Provide training, guidance, and positive reinforcement

 

 

 

 

 

The HBM is based on the understanding that a person will take a health-related action (i.e., use condoms) if that person:

1.   Feels that a negative health condition (i.e., HIV) can be avoided,

2.   Has a positive expectation that by taking a recommended action, he/she will avoid a negative health condition (i.e., using condoms will be effective at preventing HIV), and

3.   Believes that he/she can successfully take a recommended health action (i.e., he/she can use condoms comfortably and with confidence).

 

 

Components of the HBM:

 

1.   Perceived Susceptibility: An individual recognizes that there is enough reason to make a health concern relevant that means an individual’s perception of her or his risk of contracting a health condition

2.   Perceived Severity:  That person understands he or she may be vulnerable to a disease or negative health outcome an individual’s perception of the seriousness of a health condition if left untreated. The combination of these is the perceived threat of the health condition (emotive response is fear)

3.   Perceived Benefits: the perceived effectiveness of taking action to improve a health condition

4.   Perceived Barriers: the perceived impediments to taking action to improve a health condition

5.   Cues to Action: Body or environmental events that trigger the HBM

6.   Self-Efficacy

7.   Confidence to continue the healthy behavior and overcome temptations.