Health Belief Model and its Application on Tobacco Cessation-Smoking

Introduction
Health belief model is an important term used in explaining the risky and irregular
health behaviour of every individuals and this paper clearly describes the functions of health
behaviour model. This paper is also focussed to discuss the constructs of health belief model
(HBM) to a specific health topic which is Tobacco cessation-smoking. At the end of the
paper, a clear summary on HBM and its application on the target audience as well as the
health topic selected.
Health belief model
Health belief model is a tool, generally used by scientists in order to try as well as
predict the health behaviours of others. The model is based on the theory of the willingness of
a person in changing their health behaviours. This theoretical model can be used to guide
health promotion as well as disease prevention program (Reisi et al., 2014). All the key
elements of this scientific model focus on the individual’s belief about the health conditions.
The Health Belief Model (HBM) can help in explaining why people engage with risky health
behaviours even when they understand that it has potential to negatively impact on their
health. The HBM was spelled out in terms of four constructs and they are perceived severity,
perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits and perceived barriers (Tavares & Oliveira,
2016). Health Belief Model is also based on a theory naming value-expectancy theory that
draws on the choice assumptions which are rational. People are generally assumed to be
relatively independent according to this theoretical model. The model was first created by
scientists on 1950 and this is a way of encouraging individuals to realize their susceptibility
to the health conditions (Jones et al., 2015). It is assumed by the researchers that if health
belief model is properly applied, and all the constructs are successfully targeted then it will

help in achieving an optimal behaviour change among the people with different negative
health conditions.
Perceived benefits and perceived barriers
The perceived benefits directly refer to the perception of a person on the effectiveness
of various actions which are available in decreasing the threat or risk of illness or any kind of
disease. The course of action taken by individuals in preventing any disease or illness relies
on the consideration as well as the evaluation of the perceived susceptibility and perceived
benefits. Hence, the person will accept all the recommended or suggested health actions in
order to get cured only if it was perceived as beneficial. In perceived benefits, it is difficult to
convince people to change their unhealthy behaviours or living style if there is not something
in it for them. Generally people don’t want to give up on something they enjoy if they are not
getting something better as a return (Panahi, Ramezankhani, Tavousi & Niknami, 2018).
Until and unless the benefits are known properly, any kind of recommended actions does not
work. Therefore, perceived benefits are the beliefs of individuals on the efficacy of the
advised actions in order to reduce risk or seriousness of health impacts. It is used in order to
define actions, clarify the positive effects to expected and also at the same time to describe
the evidence of effectiveness. On the other hand, one of the major barriers is that people think
changing their normal health behaviour will not be easy and sometimes, it is not only about
the physical difficulties but also the social difficulties (Williams & Swierad, 2019). Again,
people may think that acquiring a new behaviour will cost effort, money as well as time and
this is also a reason of why people avoid acquiring change in their behaviours. Perceived
barrier is referred to the feelings of a person on the obstacles of performing any suggested
health actions. There is large number of variation in the feelings of a person regarding the
impediments or barriers which leads to a cost/benefit analysis. When people think that the
effectiveness of an action against any perception might be costly, time-consuming,

unpleasant, and inconvenient then they do not want to acquire any change and as a
consequence it comes out as barriers of the health belief model (Panahi, Ramezankhani,
Tavousi, Osmani & Niknami, 2017).
Using constructs of perceived benefits and barriers on the target group
HBM is a widely used health behaviour model to create an effective health behaviour
change interventions and programs. Here, the topic Tobacco cessation-smoking has been
considered and hence, the college going students will be considered as the target group in
order to apply HBM (Lotfi, Dostifar, Dashtban & Kassiri, 2017). The students will not agree
to acquire changes in their smoking behaviour in order to stop it permanently unless they will
aware of the benefits and hence, it will be required to let them know the perceived benefits
construct of the HBM. Again, if a group of peers are following a regular smoking pattern then
it will be difficult for any particular student of that group to cut down his smoking habits
permanently. He will hesitate to do the same which is a perceived barrier construct of the
HBM.
Other constructs and its application on the target group
Cues to action and Self efficacy, these two are other constructs of HBM and it can be
applied successfully on the students of colleges to bring changes in their tobacco cessation
and smoking behaviour. A cue to action is basically the readiness to acquire the strategies of
changing and it is generally achieved by promoting awareness and providing reminders to the
students about the benefits of the changes. Self efficacy is the confidence in their ability to
take action. In order to build self efficacy, it is important to provide them training, guidance
and some positive reinforcement to the students (Pepper, Emery, Ribisl, Rini & Brewer,
2015).