ESSAY: Public Health

Present one theory or model within the field of public health which describes either how people maintain health and/or how illness is caused? Presentation of the theory or model may be submitted in graphic or narrative format. Even if this is not your personal viewpoint/belief, how can these multiple theories and models be beneficial to public health professionals? It is not appropriate to repeat one that has already been posted unless you are providing new information. Review all peer submissions and become familiar with the multiple theories and models. Respond to three peers’s posts asking any questions or verifying your analysis of the theory/model.

ANSWER

Public Health

The Health Belief Model (HBM)

The model was developed in the early 1950s by a social scientist in the United States to explain and predict health-related behaviours. The scientists focused on understanding the causes of people’s resistance to adopting strategies meant to detect and prevent illnesses. The model has six constructs, which include self-efficacy, perceived barriers, perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, perceived severity, and cue to action, (Jones, Smith & Llewellyn, 2014). Perceived susceptibility refers to a person’s perception of the possibility of acquiring a health problem. Perceived severity involves the feelings of a person about the seriousness of getting a particular disease. Perceived benefits are the perceptions of the efficiency of the available interventions to treat a disease. Perceived barriers involve an individual’s feelings…

Psychologists use HBM to explain patients’ timely responses to signs and symptoms and compliance with the necessary treatment. According to the HBM model, people’s beliefs about a disease, perceived benefits or barriers to action, self-efficacy, as well as the effectiveness of the available health interventions help to support (or hinder) health-promoting behaviours towards the problem (Jones et al., 2014).  The model is derived from psychological and behavioural theory and it is based on two primary components o…

The theory can significantly help public health professionals in understanding people’s beliefs and promoting the wellbeing of society. According to the model, individuals tend to seek timely health interventions and effectively abide by the available preventive interventions when they understand the severity of a disease. Therefore, public health practitioners can use community awareness programs to provide full information about diseases, their causes, and devastating impacts to encourage the community’s response towards the presented ….

References

Jones, C. J., Smith, H., & Llewellyn, C. (2014). Evaluating the effectiveness of health belief model interventions in improving adherence: A systematic review. Health psychology review, 8(3), 253-269.

Kim, J. E., & Zane, N. (2016). Help-seeking intentions among Asian American and White American students in psychological distress: Application of the health belief model. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 22(3), 311.