According to the Health Belief Model (HBM), what is the decision – making process a person goes through before taking a health-related action?
The Health Belief Model is a Social Cognitive Model that seeks to examine and predict health behaviors by focusing on individual beliefs and attitudes. Before an individual takes health-related action, a person should first go through several stages of understanding. To begin with, a person must analyze the possibility of the negative consequence of taking this action, as well as how those consequences can be avoided. To taken an action, a person should have a positive expectation about the recommended action. A person must be convinced about the absence of any negative health conditions. Finally, a person should know that he/she can take a recommended health action to receive the expected result. In other words, a person can feel comfortable about the action he/she takes.
The Health Belief Model is represented through four mechanisms permitting an individual to perceive the benefits and threats of action. These mechanisms involve perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, perceived severity, and perceived barriers. These constructs are decisive because they influence people’s readiness to act.
How would you use the Transtheoretical Model (Stages of Change) if you wanted to move a person who was in the precontemplation stage – to the ACTION STAGE – using the goal “30 minutes of aerobic exercise 5 days a week – 30 minutes or longer.” Give me a set of directions – or a “recipe for change” using the model as your guide. Limit your response to one single-spaced page – or less.
According to the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change, an individual has certain stages highlighting his/her readiness to act. Before a health-related action is carried out, an individual should undergo stages of the stage, including precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, and action. All these stages are important to overcome because they contribute to an individual’s understanding of the necessity to change. About the case above, the stages will look as follows:
Precontemplation Stage
An individual is not ready to devote his free time to doing workouts because he/she is unaware of the potential outcomes and purposes of the aerobics. During this stage, it is necessary to inform you about the task, including duration, exercises, and frequency of performing aerobics.
Contemplation Stage
A person can start realizing that the life he/she used to lead does not correspond to his/her health purposes and, therefore, the person starts looking for more benefits and shortcomings of aerobics. At this stage, the major task is to persuade a person that going in for sports has many more benefits than sitting at home and doing nothing.
Preparation Stage
As soon as the pros and cons of doing 30 minutes of aerobics 5 times a week have been highlighted, a person starts thinking of possible ways to schedule the workouts and change the behavioral pattern that previously prevented the individuals to be more active. Recognition of incorrect behaviors and shifts in response patterns are the main steps to overcome the preparations stage. My task here is to warn about possible challenges
Action Stage
At this stage, a person starts to implement the plan about the above-presented threats and benefits. During this stage, it is highly important to keep in mind the previously analyzed conditions and stages under which a person makes the decision. To sustain the process of changing a person’s behavior, it is necessary to keep track of all possible changes in physical and mention conditions. In such a way, an individual can become more aware of the benefits of the action, as well as receive more incentives to continue physical exercises.