Becker and Maiman (health belief model)

Becker and Maiman combined a number of patient beliefs and attitudes into a 'health belief model' which included:

• the patient's interest in health matters, which may correlate with personality, class and social group
• how vulnerable the patient feels to a particular disease and how severe he feels the threat to be
• the patient's estimate of the benefits of treatment versus the costs, risks or inconvenience
• the factors that prompt the patient to take action such as developing alarming symptoms, advice from family or friends or reports in the media

This model can be summarised as the patient's Ideas, Concerns and Expectations.

Reference:

• (1) MH Becker and LA Maiman: Sociobehavioural determinants of compliance with medical care recommendations. Med Care 1975 (13) 10-24.