models of health behaviour

what is the health belief model

value expectancy theory: the idea that you can put a value on your desire to avoid illness or stay healthy

susceptibility

this refers to a person’s perception of how likely they are to devleop a disease or health problem

severity

the perception of how serious the consequences of a particular health condition or risk would be

benefits

this element concerns what a person beleives they stand to gain from taking a particular health action

costs (barriers)

refer to the perceived barriers or downsides of carrying out a health behaviour (perceived barriers are actually the strongest predictor of behaviour in the HBM)

cues to action

these are triggers (either internal or external) that prompt a person to act on a health behaviour

other modifying variables

sociodemographic factors such as age, occupation, cultural background

self efficiacy

refers to a person’s level of confidence in their ability to successfully perform a health behaviour

behaviour

is the outcome fo the model (the health action a person ultimately takes or doesn’t take)

downsides of the HBM

doesn’t do a complete job of explaining behaviours, struggles to account for the emotional dimension and doesn’t address the role of social norms

theory of planned behaviour

takes into account oru social situation in how we engage in health related behaviours

attitude toward the behaviour

this refers to a person’s overall evaluation of performing a behaviour, essentially weighing up the pros and cons

subjective norm

captures the influence of social environment (what the important people around you think and do regarding social behaviour)

perceived behavioural control

refers to whether or not someone beleives they have control over performing (or ceasing) a behaviour

intention

high intention to perform a behaviour strongly increase the likelihood of actually doing it (shaped by a person’s attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control)

actual behavioural control

refers to the real world factors and resources that genuinely determine whether someone can carry out the behaviour

the common sense model of self regulation of health and illness

the ability to manage your own emotions and feelings in the face of particular threats

situational stimuli

starting points for how we perceive health threats. Include lay information stored in memory, information from expert sources and experiences somatic and symptomatic information

cognitive illness representations

the thought based ways a person makes sense of health threat, organised into 6 categories: identity (what symptoms are associated with the illness), cause (what caused it), consequences (how serious it is), timeline (how long it will last), control (whether anything can be done about it), coherence (whether it all makes sense)

emotional illness representation

running in parallel to the cognitive pathway, the modelr ecognsies that health threats also generate emotional response such as distress, fear or anxiety

coping strategies (cognitive)

these are the behavioural and thought-based strategies a person uses in response to their cognitive illness representations. they can include avoidance, cognitive appraisal, problem focused coping and seeking social support

coping strategies (emotional)

these are the strategies a person uses to manage the emotional distress associated with a health threat

coping appraisal (cognitive)

this is the evaluation of how well one’s coping strategies are working in terms of illness outcomes, such as physical functioning and disease state

illness outcomes

these refer to the actual health-related results that flow from one’s coping strategies, including disease state, physical functioning, role functioning and social functioning

emotional outcomes

these capture the emotional wellbeing or distress that results from one’s emotional coping strategies

coping appraisal (emotional)

this is the evaluation of how well one’s coping strategies are managing emotional distress and psychological wellbing