Health Belief Model
The Health Belief Model was developed in the 1950’s to help understand why more people did not take advantage of an immunization program offered by the federal government. ( Rosenstock, 1990 ) The model has stood the test of time and is often used today in planning health promotion programs and explaining the reasons that individuals may or may not adopt new health habits. The focus of the model is on adapting new behaviors in times when true medical care is not warranted. Notice that the core constructs of the model are based on perceptions; you may want to go back a few slides and review our discussion on beliefs and the role of perceptions. These categories of beliefs have been shown to be strong determinants of whether or not people will adopt preventive behaviors. We will discuss each of these in detail on the next slides.
Cues to Action
Other factors that may mediate or motivate behavior have been added to the model in recent years. It was recognized that demographic and sociopsychological factors as well as information and experience also affect the likelihood of taking a preventive action.