HEALTH BELIEF MODEL AS IT APPLIES
TO COUNSELLING
INTRODUCTION
Social health psychologists Hochbaum Rosenstock and Kegels in the 1950s while working for the Unites States’ Public Health Services developed the Health Belief Model (HBM) via the response to the failure of a free tuberculosis health screening program, which was an attempt to predict health-related behavior in terms of certain belief systems. Health belief state that the perception of a personal health behavior threat is itself influenced by at least three (3) factors: General health values, which include interest and concern about health; specific health belief about vulnerability to a particular health threat; and beliefs about the consequences of the health problem.
HBM is a psychological model that attempts to explain and predict health behaviours. This is done by focusing on the attitudes and beliefs of individuals. It is the compass used to see the distant future of an individual and even the far past of the individual, as related to health. The HBM uses the life-style and attitude presented by an individual to predict the health condition of the person, be it of the past, the present or the future.
As the function of the dressing mirror, HBM is laid on the foundation of the understanding that an individual will take a health-related action like using condom if the individual feels that by adhering to that health-related action (use a condom), terrible health condition like HIV can be avoided.
Globally today, women have been made to believe that unless an individual is slim and has flesh at some specific parts of the body, the person is not beautiful. This belief came by through the mere fact that the world’s media acclaimed fashion models that are slim and the cloths they wear fits them to be the most beautiful women on earth. This believes came by because of the strivings to look beautiful and belonging and been loved and admired by men.
At the birth of this fashion-related life style, most women now belief and hold strongly that unless they are slim, they are not beautiful. Because of this, they watch what they eat, what they drink, how they eat and when they eat what. It gives them or makes them develop the sense of healthy living and careful eating. This is the positive side. While at the negative side, some women who, through their parent(s) grew up to be ‘fat’ and not naturally on the ‘slim’ side, usually ‘fight’ their way through to slimness by dangerously cutting down their food intake and as a result, some develop ulcer.
Ultimately, women belief in get slim, get beautiful is making them to be healthy even when some do not have it in mind to work towards been healthy. This belief makes them to exercise more, drink lots of water, and eat less fat and sugar food.
APPLICATION TO COUNSELLING
Since counseling could be an inter-personal process design to bring about modification of feelings, cognition, attitudes and behaviours which have, over the time, prove trouble-some for the individual; the application of HBM in counseling is a pure and sure way of assisting clients with health-related troubles who consulted the counselor.
For instance, when a client approach a counselor due to addiction in heavy smoking or drinking, the counselor during the counseling section could get more facts about the addiction by enquiring into the health belief system of the individual. If the individual is in the Military service where smoking is see as an act of been ‘awake’ and at best, especially during war, then with that information, the counselor could make the individual belief that the earlier belief system is not true. Meanwhile, if individual perceives a threat to his/her health and is simultaneously cued to action and his/her perceived benefits outweigh his/her perceived benefits, then that individual is most likely to undertake the recommended prevention health action. Note that health belief model has been applied to all study all types of health behavior. For instance, individual’s motivation to undertake a health behavior can be see in three dimensions: individual perception; modifying behaviors; and likelihood of action.
Conception or/perception of individual: its usually bring to consciousness and affection that based on perception of illness or disease, importance of individual’s health, perception that deals with susceptible, and severity. The livelihood of action can be described as a factors in probability of appropriate health behavior; it is it duty to adhere to the recommended preventive health action. It is the result of above factors causes a response that usually manifests into action, as far as it is accompanied by a rational alternative course of action.
CONCLUSION
Counselors with corrective motifs towards their profession or career would eagerly apply the methods adopted by the HBM for effective diagnosis of their client and proper treatment been administered. As mentioned above in my instruction, counseling is more like seeking truth using the dialogue-diagnosis method of seeking answers to, sometimes, hidden questions needed for proper ‘curing’ of client(s).
BY: EDOKA PETER-PAUL
WRITTEN AS A TERM PAPER SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY SAINTS PETER AND PAUL MAJOR SEMINARY,BODIJA, IBADAN IN AFFILIATION WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN; JANUARY, 2011
SOURCES
1. Becker, M. H., ed., (1974). “The Health Belief Model and Personal Health Behaviour.” Health Education Monographs2:324-473
2. Harrison, J A.; Mullen, P. D.; and Green, L. W. (1992), A Meta-Analysis of Studies of the Health Belief Model in Health Behaviour and Health Education Research 7:107-116
3. Champion, V. L. (1984), Instrument Development for Health Belief Model Constructs, Advances in Nursing Science, 6, 73-85
4. Eisen, M et.al. (1992), A Health Belief Model— Social Learning Theory Approach to Adolescents’ Fertility Control: Findings from a Controlled Field Trial, Health Education Quarterly
5. Rosenstock, I M. (1966), Why People Use Health Services, Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly 44:94-124
6. Hochbaum, G. (1956), why people seek X-rays, Public Health Reports 71:377-38
No comments:
Post a Comment