HBM

Health Belief Model

Health Belief Model Introduction

The paper aims to critically discuss the Health Belief Model (HBM). The Health Belief Model (HBM) is a psychological model that provides explanation and prediction about the health behaviours. This is carried out by emphasizing on the attitudes and beliefs of individuals (Chew, 2002, pp. 179-196). The HBM provides a general framework for health education in the sense that it is applicable to a wide variety of situations and it provides guide with details actions for education health. For instance, if we find that people are aware of the risks cancer, but they also believe that there no specific treatment of cancer or that these treatments are more disadvantages than interest, we can construct specific actions to increase the perceived benefits of these treatments.

HBM assumes a precise knowledge of the behaviour population from which we want to intervene, specific aspects and skills required for compliance with the preventive behaviour desired. The effectiveness of this type of action in health education depends on the social context, legislative and cultural context in which they are embedded. Indeed, the context acts as a facilitator or barrier to this type intervention focuses on knowledge, beliefs and perceptions individual prevention and care (Mikhail, 2009, pp. 65-82).

Background

The Health Belief Model (HBM) model or beliefs about health was developed in the 1950s by a group of researchers and practitioners in the U.S. Public Health Service who sought to understand the causes of failure and lack of public participation in programs of prevention or detection of diseases. Model was then extended to explain the behaviour of individuals to face medical diagnosis and in particular their acquiescence and their behaviour in medical plans. For over thirty years, the pattern of beliefs about health (HBM) is psychosocial approach most commonly used to explain health behaviours (Glanz, 2002). It is used by doctors, nurses, dentists, health educators to design and evaluate actions in health education. Later, the model was adapted to try to explain a variety of health behaviours, such as an individual's response to certain symptoms of disease or patient compliance with treatment and medical advice including adherence to antiretroviral therapy (Becker et. al., 2004, pp. 205-216).

Although, psychosocial theories and models are numerous and dominant in the study of health behaviour change, have many components or constructs complementary or are adapted versions of the same concept or explanatory variable behaviour. The behaviour or individual or collective practice is a product of the interaction of multiple factors and variables. Political, social, economic and environmental affect people's behaviour, indicating why practices affecting health can not be explained from the perspective of a single theory or conceptual model. The use of a model to better understand the nature of the needs, motivations and practices of people and dynamic characteristics the context in which they occur (Bandura, 2007, pp. 191-215).

Discussion & Analysis

The main idea advocated by the model is that the behaviour of a person is determined by the perceived threat to their ...