Psychological Theories of Health Behavior Notes

Psychological Theories of Health Behavior

Introduction

• Psychological theories are used to explain how people adopt or fail to adopt healthy behaviors.

• These theories play a key role in pharmacy by helping understand, predict, and influence patients' health-related decisions in areas such as:

  • Medication adherence

  • Lifestyle changes

  • Disease prevention

• Major psychological theories commonly applied in pharmacy practice include:

  1. Health Belief Model (HBM)

  2. Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)

  3. Transtheoretical Model (TTM)

1. Health Belief Model (HBM)

• Core Idea: People adopt a health behavior if they believe they are at high risk and the action will help reduce the threat.

• Example: A person might start exercising if they believe they are at risk of heart disease and see exercise as a way to prevent it. Encouraging flu vaccination by addressing patients’ beliefs about flu risk and benefits of vaccination.

• Key Components:

  1. Perceived Risk/Threat:

     • (a) Perceived susceptibility (to illness): Perception of the risk of contracting an illness.

     • (b) Perceived severity/seriousness (of illness consequences): Perception that an illness is dangerous.

  2. Perceived Value/Outcome:

     • (a) Perceived benefits (of taking action): A person’s belief about the effectiveness of the behavior.

     • (b) Perceived barriers (to taking action): Perceived difficulty in taking the action.

  3. Cues to Action: Triggers or reminders to initiate the process of taking action.

  4. Self-Efficacy: Confidence in one's ability to act successfully.

  5. Other Modifying Variables: Demographic and socio-psychological factors.

Diagram of HBM components and how perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits, and barriers contribute to perceived risk and value, ultimating influencing behavior.

• Example: A patient with high cholesterol refuses to start statin therapy.

  • Pharmacist Action:

    1. Emphasize perceived susceptibility: Explain the risks of heart disease if untreated.

    2. Highlight benefits: Describe how statins can prevent heart attacks.

    3. Address barriers: Discuss concerns about side effects or cost.

    4. Use cues to action: Provide a follow-up call or reminder card.

2. Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)

• Core Idea: Intentions predict behavior, and these intentions are influenced by attitudes, social norms, and perceived control.

• Examples:

  • Influencing patients’ intention to take medications by improving attitudes and involving family or community support.

  • If a person believes eating healthy is beneficial, sees friends eating healthy, and feels they can afford healthy food, they are more likely to adopt this behavior.

• Key Components:

  1. Attitudes (toward the behavior): Personal beliefs about the behavior.

  2. Subjective Norms (beliefs about others' expectations): Social influences and pressures.

  3. Perceived Behavioral Control (ease or difficulty of performing the behavior): The belief in one's ability to perform the behavior.

Diagram of TPB illustrating how attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control influence intention, which then impacts behavior.

• Example: A diabetic patient is inconsistent with blood glucose testing.

  • Pharmacist Action:

    1. Improve attitudes: Educate on how testing helps avoid complications.

    2. Engage subjective norms: Involve family or caregiver support.

    3. Enhance perceived control: Offer simple tools or apps to track readings.

3. Transtheoretical Model (TTM)

• Core Idea: Behavior change is a process that occurs in stages.

• Example: Tailoring smoking cessation counseling based on the patient’s readiness to quit.
  Diagram of the stages in TTM: Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action and Maintenance, with an arrow from Maintenance feeding back to Relapse.

• Stages:

  1. Precontemplation: No intention to change (e.g.,