Behavioral Science
HEALTH BELIEF MODEL
(HBM)
Dr. G.U Ahsan, Ph.D
Origins of HBM
Developed initially in early 1950s by
social psychologists Godfrey
Hochbaum, Stephen Kegels and Irwin
Rosenstock
Developed in an effort to explain
failure of health programs in obtaining
people’s participation
Origins…
The development of the HBM grew out
of real concerns with the limited success
of various programs of the Public Health
Service in the 1950s. One such early
example was the failure of large
numbers of eligible adults to participate
in tuberculosis (TB) screening programs
provided at no charge in mobile X-ray
units conveniently located in various
neighborhoods.
Origins….
In 1974 HBM model was further
extended to analyze:
People’s responses to symptoms
People's behavior a=in response to
diagnosed illness
People’s compliance with medical
regimens
The HBM theory is a value
expectancy theory:
MeaningValue: The desire to avoid illness or to
get well
Expectancy: The belief that a specific
health action available to a person
would prevent illness.
Non compliance in health seeking
behavior
Patient fail to take medication as
prescribed
Do not attend to medical
appointments
Skip or stop doing exercise
recommended and
Fail to follow recommended diet or
other items for life style change.
Components of the HBM
1. Perceived susceptibility:
Individual subjective perception to be contracted
to an illness
2. Perceived severity:
Individual’s feeling concerning the seriousness
of contracting an illness or leaving it untreated
3. Perceived benefits:
Health behaviors depends upon the beliefs
regarding the effectiveness of the various
available actions in reducing the disease threat
4.
Perceived Barriers:
The potentiality negative aspects of a
particular health action.
A kind of non conscious cost-benefit
analysis: eg.: it may be expensive,
dangerous, unpleasant (painful,
difficult, or upsetting), inconvenient,
time consuming and so forth.
5.
Cues to Action:
Any of the following can be the cause of
action
Mass media campaigns (awareness)
A reminder letter form doctor
Family illness
Perception of one’s own symptoms
6.
Self-Efficacy:
Introduced by Bandura in 1977
For behavioral change people must feel
threatened by their current behavior
patterns and believe the change will
resulting in a valued outcome.
The HBM and Cigarette Smoking
Behavior
On the survey of 2000 adult current
smokers, ex-smokers and people who
had never smoked the result was:
83% of current smokers believed that
smoking was harmful to health.
HBM and Its Components
Demographic factor
(e.g. age or gender)
Perception of
seriousness of
the health
problem
Personality factors
Perceived personal
susceptibility to the
illness (Perceived
thereat)
Knowledge about
health problem
Experience or prior
contact with health
problem
Cues to action
An assessment of
the perceived
thereat of a health
problem
Likelihood that an
individual will take
preventive action
An evaluation of the
pros and cons of
taking action
(preventive)
Mass media
campaigns
A reminder
letter from
doctor or
dentist
Family
illness
Perceptions of
one’s own
symptoms
Perceived gain/perceived
cost (financial
cost+time+hazards)
Implications of HBM in the field of
Public Health
This model is important to
Address public health concerns like
Screening and compliance
Providing as an explanatory and an
intervention tool for health behavior
Different Views on Limitations of the
Model
Perceived barrier is only the most powerful
and influencing component of HBM
Perceived susceptibility and perceived
benefits were important and stronger
predictors for human behavior
Inconsistent measurement of HBM
concepts
Message
It is timely for public health specialists
who are attempting to influence
health behavior is wise to have
utilized Health Belief Model including
Self Efficacy in their program
planning both in needs assessment
and in program strategies.