Health beliefs and health behaviours Flashcards
(10 cards)
What is meant by ‘health behaviours’?
Overt behavioral patterns, actions, and habits related to health maintenance, restoration, and improvement (Gochman, 1997). Any behaviour linked to health.
Why are health behaviours important?
They significantly contribute to disease, health service use, and predict morbidity and mortality.
What are the different types of health behaviours?
Health impairing behaviours, health protective behaviours, and care-seeking behaviours.
What is the Health Belief Model (HBM) by Rosenstock (1974)?
A model that predicts health behaviours based on perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits, barriers, cues to action, and health motivation.
According to the Health Belief Model, what determines whether someone takes action?
Their perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, cues to action, and motivation.
How can understanding health beliefs help in healthcare?
By understanding patient beliefs, healthcare professionals can improve consultations and health behaviour interventions.
What influences health beliefs besides the core components of HBM?
External variables such as demographic variables (age, gender) and psychological characteristics (personality traits).
How can the Health Belief Model be applied practically?
At the population level for health promotion and at the individual level during patient consultations.
In HBM, what does low perceived severity and low perceived susceptibility indicate?
The individual is less likely to take health action due to a belief that the condition is neither serious nor likely to affect them.
Why might someone decline a flu vaccination based on the Health Belief Model?
They may have a low perceived severity of the flu and thus do not consider vaccination worthwhile.
