Health Belief Model (Visual)

"The health-belief model considers three levels in predicting people's behaviour. The first thing that must be taken into account is the patient's readiness to act, or perception of the need for action. Such readiness is determined by the perceived severity of the disease state that exists or is likely to exist and the perceived susceptibility of the illness or its consequences. Thus, if patients don't believe that an illness is severe or that they themselves will become ill, readiness to act is low. Readiness to act is high if the obverse is true. For example, people are far more likely to get flu shots if they see the strain of flu that is expected as severe and highly contagious than if they think of it as mild and relatively rare. The second set of considerations in this model involves estimation of costs and benefits of compliance. In order to comply, patients must believe that the regimen will be effective. They must also feel that the benefits of following it outweigh the costs. Consistent with reinforcement theories, compliance occurs only when the incentives for accepting doctors' orders are greater than those for not doing so. Finally, the health-belief model includes a cue to action, something that makes the subject aware of potential consequences. Internal signals that something is wrong (pain, discomfort) or external stimuli such as health campaigns or screening programs are necessary to set in motion the analyses listed above. Demographic variables are also included, though they have not shown any systematic relation to compliance."