What is the Health Belief Model and name a core construct?

• A. Explains health behaviors; construct: perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits, barriers, cues to action, self-efficacy.
• B. A model of disease surveillance; construct: case definition.
• C. A model for vaccine shelf life; construct: storage temperature.
• D. A model for hospital workflow; construct: bed occupancy.

Answer: (A)

The Health Belief Model is a psychological framework that explains why people take action to prevent or address health issues by looking at their beliefs about those issues. A core construct is perceived susceptibility, the belief about how likely they are to get a condition; this, along with perceived severity, helps motivate action. The model also includes perceived benefits and perceived barriers to a behavior, cues to action, and self-efficacy. For example, in encouraging flu vaccination, someone who feels at risk and believes flu is serious, sees the vaccine as beneficial and not overly burdensome, receives a reminder, and feels confident they can get vaccinated is more likely to act. The other options describe different domains (disease surveillance, vaccine shelf life, hospital workflow) and aren’t part of this model.