Question

You have a friend who just found a lump in her breast during a self-exam. She does not want to go get a mammogram. How could you use the Health Belief Model in a health coaching session to help your friend take the next steps towards getting a mammogram? Note: make sure to use all constructs of the model in your response.

Answer 1

Health belief model:

It is a model designed to exclusively predict health behaviors based on the constructs of perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived costs, cues to action, and self- efficacy

# Illness behaviors

Actions taken by a person who feels sick and indulges in the behavior for the purpose of defining the state of his or her health and for discovering suitable remedies

# Perceived barriers

Beliefs concerning the actual and imagined costs of following a new behavior

# Perceived benefits

Beliefs in the advantages of the methods suggested for reducing the risk or seriousness of the disease or harmful state resulting from a particular behavior

# Perceived severity

Subjective belief in the extent of harm that can result from an acquired disease or harmful as a result of a particular disease

# Perceived susceptibility

Subjective belief regarding a person's likelihood of acquiring a disease or reaching a harmful state as a result of indulging in a particular behavior

# Perceived threat

The combination of perceived susceptibility and perceived severity

# Preventive (or health) behaviors

Actions taken by a healthy person for the purpose of preventing disease or detecting disease in an asymptomatic phase

# Self- efficacy

The confidence that a person has in his or her ability to pursue a behavior

In this case , my friend has a lump and she doesn't want to go for a mammogram . To encourage her to proceed with mammogram to avoid complications by conducting early diagnosis . I will use the health belief model and its constructs to explain her about the importance of conducting Mammogram , to provide her confidence , counselling her that by conducting Mammogram we will be able to detect any abnormalities early and take actions according to that ,it will help to avoid complications . Clearing all her doubts regarding mammogram like the cost , harmful effects of doing a mammogram etc .