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359365
RICHARD BELLAMY
Kintampo Health Research Centre, Kintampo, Ghana
SUMMARY Patient education is the process of enabling individuals to make informed decisions about their personal health-related
behaviour. It aims to improve health by encouraging compliance
with medical treatment regimens and promoting healthy lifestyles.
Behavioural change for patients is a complex process and requires
more than the simple acquisition of knowledge. Several educational
models based on behavioural theories have been developed to
explain individuals health-related behaviour. The health belief
model is the one most commonly used in research. The four
principal components of this model are the individuals perception
of his or her personal susceptibility to disease, perception of the
severity of the disease and perception of the benefits from
and barriers to modifying behaviour. The health belief model can
be used to design educational interventions that are most likely to
be effective. Patient education is a duty for all health practitioners
and it should be a core component of medical school curricula.
ISSN 0142159X print/ISSN 1466187X online/00/000359-7 2004 Taylor & Francis Ltd
DOI: 10.1080/01421590410001679398
359
R. Bellamy
R. Bellamy
Individual perceptions
Modifying factors
Likelihood of action
Perceived benefits of
preventive action
Sociopsychological variables
(e.g. personality, social class, peer pressure)
minus
Perceived barriers to
preventive action
Perceived susceptibility to
disease X
Perceived threat of
diseaseX
Perceived severity of
disease X
Likelihood of taking
recommended health
action
Cues to action
(e.g. mass media campaigns, advice from others
reminder postcard, illness in family member or friend,
newspaper or magazine article)
Figure 1. Original formulation of the health belief model as described by Becker et al. (1979).
Practice points
Compliance with medical advice on treatment and
lifestyle modifications is often poor.
Non-compliance can adversely affect patients health.
Patient education aims to improve health by enabling
individuals to make informed choices regarding their
own health-related behaviour.
The health belief model can help us to understand
patients behaviour and to design effective educational
interventions.
Notes on contributor
RICHARD BELLAMY is an infectious disease physician and epidemiologist
with a strong interest in medical education. He is currently based in
Ghana directing a clinical trial on the effects of vitamin A supplements
on maternal mortality.
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