The Constructs of the HBM
Personal perception is influenced by many intrapersonal factors including knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, values, experiences, skills, culture, and religion. Four major perceptions (perceived seriousness, perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers) serve as the basic constructs of the Health Behavior Model (HBM). Utilize the constructs of the HBM to explain your own daily physical activity and then reflect upon how those constructs could help increase your physical activity.
Sample Answer
Explain your daily physical activity concerning the HBM constructs and then reflect upon how those constructs could help increase your physical activity.
According to (Green, Murphy & Gryboski, 2020), the health belief model was meant to understand why people use disease prevention strategies to detect diseases early. Social scientists made the system famous, which resulted in patients’ responses to symptoms that result from medical treatment. The HBM outlines that a person’s belief should predict the likelihood of attaining a particular behavior; therefore, its goal is to avoid illnesses by having specific health actions to cure diseases.
One of the physical activities that I make use of frequently is going for a run. I do this every morning as it provides an energy boost to my body. The perceived susceptibility, a construct of HBM, refers to the perception one has towards the risk of acquiring a disease. I take this physical activity as a serious one as it reduces heart problems and excess fat in the body. Perceive susceptibility makes me understand the importance of going for a run every morning, prioritizing my health. This made my body use this physical activity as I encouraged others to do the same.
Perceived benefits is another construct of HBM where a person takes a course of action to prevent illness in consideration of perceived susceptibility and benefit (Yahaghi & Yaghoubi, 2016). This conclusion is whether physical activity was beneficial in disease cure. For instance, whenever I run, I see its benefits as I stay fit and healthy.
Perceived barriers are a person’s feelings on all the obstacles to performing a recommended health action. This enhances an individual to assess cost analysis involved I a particular physical activity. The importance of this construct is that it aids one to get to know the side effects, inconveniency of the physical activity done (Ofili, 2018). My running every morning is a planned activity, and selecting a time that is easily convenient to my daily program and does not have a side effect rather than a health benefit.
We also have perceived seriousness. These are individuals’ feelings of the severity of contracting a particular disease. In most cases, one considers the medical consequences that come with it. This triggers an individual to take up the responsibility of having measures to prevent disease contraction. These feelings make an individual serious in treating a disease or leaving it untreated, with consequences. Running every morning is a step I have taken individually to change the state of my health, and it is a plus to me ensuring that I get few chances of getting affected by diseases such as high blood sugar levels.
The perceived barriers best explain my activity. The main observance I make before enacting a practice to my health diary, I need to look at the problems the practice will make my face or the problems the practice will help me solve as far as my health is concerned. With this information, I can decide on its safety and whether it should be considered a practice in disease cure and prevention.
References
- Green, E. C., Murphy, E. M., & Gryboski, K. (2020). The health belief model. The Wiley Encyclopedia of Health Psychology, 211-214.
- Ofili, E. (2018). Learning and action in community health: International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(9), 1862.
- Yahaghi, H., & Yaghoubi, M. (2016). Determinants of dental health behaviors of Iranian students based on the health belief model (HBM). Shiraz E Medical Journal, 17(7-8).
