Health Belief Model

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The health belief model or model of health beliefs is a model of health behavior . It is used to analyze and predict health-related behavior and is used in health psychology .

background

The decisive variable is the value of the goal and the probability of achieving the goal. The model is based on the assumption that certain behaviors increase the likelihood of developing a certain disease and that changes in individual behavior reduce this risk. The belief that a certain activity helps avoid the disease is decisive for the assumed probability of achieving a goal. Health behavior is determined by conscious cost - benefit considerations.

The health belief model developed in the 1950s summarizes various theses on which the motivation to use the health system and the willingness to implement disease preventive measures depend. The following factors are used as determinants in the model:

  • the recognizability of the benefit and effectiveness of one's own preventive behavior ("If I am physically active, the likelihood that I will get heart disease is reduced.")
  • the assessment of the danger of the disease
  • the subjective assessment of one's own susceptibility to illness (personal risk )
  • the perception of one's own limitations and sacrifices caused by the preventive behavior ( balancing the benefits against the possible "costs")
  • the belief in the effectiveness and usefulness of a particular act, e.g. B. Medical assistance
  • the objective severity of the disease. Remarkably, this factor has the least influence on the uptake of medical measures.

literature

  • Ralf Schwarzer: Psychology of health behavior. An introduction to health psychology . Hogrefe, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 978-3-8017-1816-9 .
  • Franziska Faselt and Stefan Hoffmann: Model of Health Beliefs . In: Stefan Hoffmann and Stefan Müller (eds.): Health marketing: Health psychology & prevention . Hans Huber, Bern 2010, ISBN 978-3-456-84801-3 , p. 35-44 .