This paper will look at applying the Health Belief Model (HBM) in two research studies in the past ten years. The Health Belief Model (HBM) is a common framework used in public health and behavioral science, research by individuals’ health behaviors and decision-making processes. The following critique will evaluate two original research studies that use the HBM to examine different health phenomenaIt will include the purpose of each survey, abuse or lack of use of HBM as a theoretical framework, how the HBM constructs are used, and the discussion of the academic and operational definitions of key concepts.
Purpose of Research Study 1
The first of these studies examines the determinants of people’s decision to take the COVID-19 vaccination concerning the Health Belief Model (HBM). Within such a global view, it is signified that the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the identification of vaccination as a significant approach toward the mitigation of the impacts of the pandemic on public health. This study tries to reveal such dynamics, drawing from the HBM and considering key constructs like perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits, barriers, cues to action, and self-efficacy (Shmueli, 2021). This tries to establish the reason and the barriers, such as hesitancy, that could be responsible for people’s perceptions and attitudes to receive vaccination against COVID-19 following the HBM. A holistic analysis of these factors guides further development of targeted interventions for encouraging vaccination against COVID-19 to serve broader public health goals (Shmueli, 2021).
Use of the Health Belief Model Theory in Research Study 1
In Study 1, the Health Belief Model (HBM) underlies the intentions of individuals and the motivators and barriers to having a COVID-19 vaccine. The stated factors systematically assess the influences on vaccination behavior through applying HBM. It applies the primary constructs of the model in the investigation of perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits, barriers, cues to action, and self-efficacy to establish the perceptions of the individual participants about their susceptibility to the disease and the health-compelling benefits of being vaccinated. Notably, it examines people’s perception of susceptibility to the disease, the severity of the disease, and the health-compelling benefits that occur, namely, prevention of the onset of disease and its complications through vaccination. Further barriers perceived by the vaccine include concerns about its safety and efficacy. The study describes further cues to action, which may include healthcare provider recommendations, further examined as factors that influence predictions to get vaccinated. This is within such a theoretical framework of the HBM that cognitive factors either facilitated or impeded the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccination. This was explained in an attempt to inform the development of interventions targeting the issues of vaccination and the general goals of public health.
Purpose of Research Study 2
The second study aims to investigate relationships between HBM constructs and colorectal cancer screening in a general population sample. Certainly, colorectal cancer screening is an essential preventive health action; however, its uptake is suboptimal in many populations. Hence, the study will identify the socio-behavioral factors guided by the HBM that influence a person to undertake colorectal cancer screening (Lau et al., 2020). It includes the HBM constructs of perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, cues to action, and perceived self-efficacy, which the researchers targeted to understand more about the enablers and barriers to screening behaviors. This study seeks to clarify how a population perceives susceptibility, severity, and benefits of taking a colorectal cancer test (Lau et al., 2020). The other perceived barriers in the study relate to screening, such as fear, discomfort, or unawareness, and how they work. Further, the role of the cues to action, which the researchers feel needs to be explored, is another role that enhances the screening uptake rate. The research will also aim at developing targeted interventions to increase uptake for colorectal cancer screening, in turn reducing colorectal cancer-associated morbidity and mortality.
Use of the HBM Theory in Research Study 2
The second paper premises on the Health Belief Model (HBM) framework in assessing the association between HBM constructs and the uptake of colorectal cancer screening among the general public. The HBM, therefore, provides an all-around framework for understanding the process people undergo in making their decisions regarding health-related issues, thus applying it to determining factors contributing to the behavior in CRC screening. These constructs are then built on from the HBM to include perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits, barriers, cues to action, and self-efficacy concerning how they affect screening uptake. They go on to explain how such issues as perceived susceptibility to getting colorectal cancer, the severity of the disease, and its benefits are bound to affect their screening behavior. Second, the study will explore the perceived cues to act, including fear or discomfort about the outcome of taking the actions or unawareness of how to carry them out, and cues to action in the form of recommendations by the healthcare provider to elicit their uptake. From the HBM perspective, the researchers assume that the complicated interrelation of cognitive factors influencing colorectal cancer screening behavior will be revealed to develop a targeting intervention to increase the screening uptake and, thus, reduce the burden of colorectal cancer.
Conclusion
The two research works demonstrate the effectiveness of using the Health Belief Model (HBM) in understanding and intervening with health-related behaviors. It focused on the perceptions surrounding COVID-19 vaccination, perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits, barriers, cues to action, and self-efficacy. At the same time, the latter identified important determinants and suggested ways to increase the screening behavior. Through HBM, the researchers obtained intensive knowledge of the said interventions for improving vaccination among the public during the pandemic. The second study tried to determine the relation between constructs of HBM and colorectal cancer screening uptake and essential factors and ways of intervention to increase screening behavior. These studies indicate that HBM is a beneficial model that can define health behaviors and afford evidence-based interventions for better public health. Further, theoretically and operationally defining the core HBM constructs could help the researchers systematically analyze and deal with factors influencing health behaviors that would eventually pay off in gains toward leading better preventive health measures and disease burdens.
References
Lau, J., Lim, T. Z., Wong, G. J., & Tan, K. K. (2020). The health belief model and colorectal cancer screening in the general population: a systematic review. Preventive medicine reports, 20, 101223.
Shmueli, L. (2021). Predicting intention to receive COVID-19 vaccine among the general population using the health belief model and the theory of planned behavior model. BMC public health, 21(1), 1-13.
write