health belief model, a conceptual framework that describes a person’s health behavior as an expression of health beliefs. The model was designed to predict a person’s health behavior, including the use of health services, and to justify intervention to alter maladaptive health behavior. Components of the model include the person’s own perception of susceptibility to a disease or condition, the perceived likelihood of contracting that disease or condition, the perceived severity of the consequences of contracting the condition or the disease, the perceived benefits of care and barriers to preventive behavior, and the internal or external stimuli that result in appropriate health behavior by the person.
