Health Belief Model Strategies

    The Health Belief Model was developed in the 50s by social psychologists employed by the US Public Health Service, Irwin M Rosenstock, Godfrey Hochbaum, Stephen Kegels, and Howard Leventhal. This line of research found that six main factors influenced people’s decisions to take action to prevent, screen for, and control illness. Those were: 

1.     They needed to believe they were susceptible to the illness
2.     They  needed to believe the consequences of the illness were severe enough to warrant doing something to avoid it
3. 3  They needed to believe taking action would benefit them by reducing susceptibility or severity
4. 4  They needed to believe the benefits of taking action outweighed the costs
5. 5  They needed exposure to factors that prompt action – those cues – some kind of reminder
6. 6  They also needed to be confident in their ability to successfully perform the action(s) 

Here are some strategies to address each of the six factors with clients.