Exploring The Health Belief Model

Developed in the 1950s, the Health Belief Model has been around for a long time and was originally used by the U.S. Public Health Service to help understand why medical screening programs for tuberculosis were not successful. Since its origination, this model has been applied in a range of therapeutic areas, which include breast cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Central to the Health Belief Model is the idea that what we do about our health is directly related to what we believe to be true about our health. 

This is unique to each person and includes how susceptible we feel we are to come down with a disease—and how severe we feel our disease might be. 

We can organize our health beliefs into four major categories, which include: perceived seriousness, perceived susceptibility, perceived barriers, and perceived benefits.

Today, harnessing this theory in our work is central to uncovering what people really believe about their health. Exploring our health beliefs can help us understand our choices: why we do or don’t seek diagnosis for disease and what the barriers are in adherence to treatment. 

It is important to be mindful that although our beliefs may be strong—they are living. Our beliefs may be shifted by experiences we have along our health journey, which can lead us to make better health choices. 

Source: Hayden J. Health Belief Model. In: Introduction to Health Behavior Theory. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers; 2009: 31-44.