Health belief model

Perception of risk in adults is usually described, or interpreted, with reference to health belief models (HBMs) (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980 Janz and Becker, 1984). Individuals are more likely to engage in health behaviors if they perceive vulnerability to health threats that the consequences are severe that treatment or preventive measures will be successful. Although there are variants to the framework, the different models share many of the same elements. In effect, theories assume that individuals rationally weigh benefits and costs and act according to the outcome of this analysis. Subsequent modifications to the models include the addition of perceived social or monetary barriers to the adaptive response. A cue to action which can be internal (e.g., symptoms) or external (e.g., health communication) is hypothesized to trigger these... 

Bush, P. J. and Iannotti, R. J. (1990). A children s health belief model. Medical Care 28,69-86. 

Janz, N. K. and Becker, M. H. (1984). The Health Belief Model A decade Later. Health Educ. Q. 11,1-47. 

Nonadherence has been studied widely by behavioral scientists whose models, such as the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Reasoned Action, attempt to explain and predict nonadherence. However, despite the numerous articles that have been published on this topic, nonadherence remains a problem of epidemic propor-... 

Fincham, J.E. Wertheimer, A.I. Using the health belief model to predict initial drug therapy defaulting. Soc. Sci. Med. 1985, 20 (1), 101-105. 

Belief models. So-called health belief models play a part in the way people respond or don t respond to promotion of better health. 

Sociocultural, illness, and biological factors affect individual attitudes towards psychotropic medications. Health beliefs or explanatory models, particularly causal attributions regarding the illness and the treatment options afforded within such models, exert a profound influence on patients attitudes and behavior regarding medications (Smith, Lin Mendoza, 1993). Such effects can be subtle and can occur during the course of treatment even if there has been initial successful negotiation about the nature of the illness and treatment. In psychiatric illness little research has been leveled at the personal meaning that patients bring to treatment practices such as electro-convulsive therapy (ECT), oral medications, and depot injections, or to the transition between different administrative routes and types of medications. 

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