The document summarizes the Health Belief Model, which proposes that a person's health behaviors depend on their perceptions of four key areas: the severity of a potential illness, their susceptibility to that illness, the benefits of preventive actions, and barriers to taking those actions. The model also includes modifying factors like age, gender and knowledge that influence perceptions. It explains the relationship between perceptions, likelihood of action, and individual behaviors regarding health issues.

1. Mrs. D. Melba Sahaya Sweety RN,RM
PhD Nursing , MSc Nursing (Pediatric Nursing), BSc Nursing
Associate Professor
Department of Pediatric Nursing
Enam Nursing College, Savar,
Bangladesh.

2. HEALTH BELIEF MODEL
INTRODUCTION
• The health belief model (HBM) is a
psychological health behavior change model was
developed by Rosenstoch’s (1974) and Backer
and Maiman’s (1975) It addresses the
Relationship between a person’s belief and
behavior.
• The health belief model (HBM)helps to
understand factors influencing patients
Perception, belief, and behavior to plan care that
will most effectively help patients maintain or
restore health and prevent illness.
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Chinna Chadayan , Melba Sahaya Seety

3. HEALTH BELIEF MODEL
The health belief model proposes that a
person's health- related behavior depends
on the person's perception of four critical
areas:
1. The severity of a potential illness
2. The person's susceptibility to that
illness
3. The benefits of taking a preventive
action
4. The barriers to taking that action
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Chinna Chadayan , Melba Sahaya Seety

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Individual Perception
Modifying
Factors
Action
• Age
• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Personality
• Socioeconomics
• Knowledge
Perceived
susceptibility
to and
severity of
disease
Perceived
Benefits
Perceived
Barriers
Perceived
Self-
efficacy
Perceived
Threat
Individual
behaviors
Cues to
action

5. The first component of this model involves an
individual’s perception of susceptibility to an
illness. For example, a patient needs to
recognize the familial link for coronary artery
disease. After this link is recognized ,
particularly when on parent and two siblings
have died in their fourth decade from MI, the
patient may perceive the personal risk of heart
disease.
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INDIVIDUAL PERCEPTION
MODIFYING FACTOR
The second component is an individual’s
perception of the seriousness of the illness.

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This perception is influenced and modified by
the modifying factors like demographic and
socio -psychological variables, perceived
threats of the illness & cues to action (e.g.,
mass media campaigns and advice from family,
friends and medical professionals).
The Third component is the likelihood that a
person will take preventive action. This
component results from a person’s perception
of benefits of and barriers to taking action.
Preventive actions include lifestyle changes,
increased adherence to medical therapies or a
search for medical advice or treatment.
LIKELIHOOD OF ACTION

7. Perceived susceptibility:
• Perceived susceptibility refers to beliefs about the
likelihood of getting a disease or condition. For
instance, a woman must believe there is a possibility of
getting breast cancer before she will be interested in
obtaining a mammogram
• This model predicts that individuals who perceive that
they are susceptible to a particular health problem will
engage in behaviors to reduce their risk of developing
the health problem.
• Individuals who believe they are at low risk of
developing an illness are more likely to engage in
unhealthy, or risky, behaviors.
• Perceived severity + perceived susceptibility =
perceived threat. 7

8. Perceived severity
• Feelings about the seriousness of contracting an
illness or of leaving it untreated include
evaluations of both medical and clinical
consequences (for example, death, disability, and
pain) and possible social consequences (such as
effects of the conditions on work, family life, and
social relations)
• Individuals who perceive a given health problem
as serious are more likely to engage in behaviors
to prevent the health problem from occurring (or
reduce its severity). • Eg: a person newly
diagnosed with diabetes may not be likely to
make major life or diet changes if he or she is not
experiencing any symptoms.
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9. Perceived Threat
• It is the construct formed by the combination of
susceptibility and severity. Perceived
susceptibility should be multiplied by perceived
severity to calculate perceived threat; thus if
either of these components is zero, the perceived
threat would be zero.
Perceived benefits
• The perceived effectiveness of taking action to
improve a health condition or Belief in efficacy of
the advised action to reduce risk or seriousness of
impact For example, individuals who believe that
wearing sunscreen prevents skin cancer are more
likely to wear sunscreen than individuals who
believe that wearing sunscreen will not prevent the
occurrence of skin cancer.
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10. Perceived barriers
The perceived impediments to taking action to
improve a health condition. Perceived barriers to
taking action include the perceived inconvenience,
expense, danger (e.g., side effects of a medical
procedure) and discomfort (e.g., pain, emotional
upset) involved in engaging in the behavior.
Cues to action
Factors that activate ”readiness to change” e.g., a
television add or a reminder from one’s physician to
get a mammogram
 This model suggests that a cue, or trigger, is
necessary for prompting engagement in health-
promoting behaviors.
Internal cues -Physiological cues (e.g., pain,
symptoms) 10

11. External cues - events or information from closers, the
media, or health care providers.
The intensity of cues needed to prompt action varies
between individuals by perceived susceptibility,
seriousness, benefits, and barriers.
Self-efficacy
• Confidence in one’s ability to take action
• Are confident in their ability to successfully perform
an action
• Self-efficacy was added to the four components of the
health belief model (i.e., perceived susceptibility,
seriousness, benefits, and barriers) in 1988.
• Self-efficacy was added to better explain individual
differences in health behaviors. Developers of the
model recognized that confidence in one's ability to
effect change in outcomes (i.e., self-efficacy) was a
key component of health behavior change. 11

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Modifying factors
Demographic variables include age, sex, race,
ethnicity, and education, among others.
Psychosocial variables include personality, social
class, and peer and reference group pressure, among
others.
Structural variables include knowledge about a given
disease and prior contact with the disease, among
other factors.
 Modifying variables affect health-related behaviors
indirectly by affecting perceived seriousness,
susceptibility, benefits, and barriers.

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Chinna Chadayan , Melba Sahaya Seety