Why I Only Engage in Some Health-Protective Behaviors: The Health Belief Model

For as long as I can remember, I have hated going to the doctor.  Sitting in the waiting room, the smell of the antiseptic in the office, feeling the alcohol swab on my arm right before a vaccine…it’s all terrible and it does not help that I am pretty phobic of shots.  Due to this, I tend to attempt to avoid many things that have to do with doctors’ offices and health, like getting yearly flu vaccines and going for yearly physicals, but I do go to the doctor with more serious concerns, such as major dental issues or more severe illness prevention.  After understanding how psychology concepts are applicable the adoption of health behaviors, I think I can explain my actions through the health belief model.  As presented in Schneider, Gruman, and Coutts (2012), the health belief model says that the health-protective behaviors in which people will engage will be influenced by cognitive factors, including general health values, perceived susceptibility to illness, perceived severity of illness, expectation of treatment success, perceived barriers and benefits, and cues to action.

As I said above, one of the health-protective behaviors that I tend to avoid is getting yearly flu vaccines.  While I am invested in maintaining good health, know I am susceptible to the flu, know I could actually get a vaccine if I wanted to, know a flu shot would likely work in preventing the flu, and see many cues to action regarding getting flu vaccines, my perceived severity of the illness and perceived barriers versus benefits stop me from actually getting a flu vaccine.  Generally, I do not consider getting the flu to be a super serious risk to my health.  I know that it can be serious, but as a young and generally healthy person, I tend to believe the flu will be, essentially, a mild inconvenience.  Also, in terms of perceived benefits versus barriers, I see the barriers outweighing the benefits.  I absolutely hate shots and tend to pass out when I get them and the only benefit would be potentially avoiding something I view as a minor inconvenience.  Based on this, getting a yearly flu vaccine just is not worth it to me, leading me to not partake in this health-protective behavior.

On the other hand, there are certain health-protective behaviors in which I do participate.  One situation occurred when I was planning to go on a medical mission trip to Nicaragua.  The CDC recommended two different vaccines for travel to Nicaragua (Hepatitis A, Typhoid), both of which I got.  In this case, my concern about maintaining good health (general health values), perceived susceptibility to illness (working in areas with many mosquitos and potentially contaminated water), perceived severity of illness (both hepatitis A and typhoid can both be serious and even deadly), expectation of treatment success (vaccines tend to be successful in preventing these diseases), self-efficacy (I knew I had the ability to get these vaccines), perceived barriers and benefits (benefits of not contracting a serious illness in a foreign country outweighed the barriers of cost and fear), and cues to action (going on the trip and being notified of recommended vaccines) all led me to go to the doctor and get these vaccines.  Essentially, my cognitions led me to participate in health-protective behaviors.

Based on the health belief model, it seems that the way to get me to change the types of health-protective behaviors in which I engage is to change the way I perceive certain aspects of them.  For example, if I perceived the flu as more severe, I would be more likely to get a yearly flu vaccine.  Also, if the barriers to getting the flu shot were diminished or the benefits were increased, I, again, would be more likely to get one.  If my job offered them for free or provided an incentive for getting a flu vaccine, that increased benefit would increase my desire to get one.  Additionally, if they made the nose spray flu vaccines more available, that would decrease a barrier to getting the vaccination and would likely increase the chances that I would get vaccinated.  Looking at how changing different factors of the situation could change my behaviors is fascinating.  It is really interesting to dissect the way cognitions can affect health behaviors in such extreme ways.

 

References

 

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understand and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

 

 

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1 comment

  1. Therese Dawn Tolley

    I enjoyed reading your blog comment on the health belief model. The theory certainly makes sense given the number of individuals who continue engaging in risky behaviors that have demonstrated negative consequences. My father was recently diagnosed with both emphysema and leukemia. His career was that of a firefighter and in addition he is an avid smoker. My father is very aware of the negative health consequences of both smoking and his chosen profession but unfortunately, he is now experiencing the negative consequences of his lifestyle choices.
    The health belief model suggests that individual’s perceptions of diseases are what may or may not make one become vulnerable (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). In my father’s case, his dad passed away from lung cancer. So, he is very aware of his susceptibility to the disease. Furthermore, the health belief model states that vulnerability may not be enough to change negative behaviors. Apparently, my father’s past perceived severity of illness is the possible consequences of smoking are not problematic enough to warrant him to stop smoking. However, that changed once he discovered he was quite sick due to environmental, genetic, and life style behaviors. This illness changed my father’s self-efficacy.
    Self-efficacy is the perception one has in their ability to exhibit a desired behavior (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Before his illness my father may have lacked the ability to quit smoking due to a lack of confidence. However, he has been tobacco free for two weeks and experiencing breathes of fresh air.

    Schneider, F., Gruman, J., and Coutts, L. (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. (2ed). Washington D.C., Sage Publications.

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