Theories provide the conceptual framework on which health promotion strategies are centered and direct the actual preparation, execution, and evaluation process of a program. Health Belief Model (HBM) and Social Cognitive Theory serve as frameworks from which to construct and provide the planning process with structure & organization. The Health Belief Model (HBM) was designed to understand people’s inability to follow disease prevention methods or screening measures to identify disease early on. Additional examples of HBM have been for patient reactions to symptoms and medical treatment enforcement. The HBM indicates that a person’s belief in a personal threat of a disease or illness along with a person’s belief in the efficacy of the prescribed health behavior or action can predict the person’s probability of following the behavior. In the end, the course of action of an individual always depends on the person’s perception of health behavioral benefits and barriers (Fertman & Allensworth 2017).The Social Cognitive Theory: SCT’s unique feature is its focus on social influence and its insistence on external and internal social strengthening. SCT recognizes the unique way individuals learn and sustain behavior while also taking into account the social environment in which individuals perform a behavior. The theory takes into account past experiences of a person, which factor in whether behavioral action is to take place. Such prior experiences affect incentives, perceptions, and aspirations, all of which shape whether an individual engages in a particular behavior and the reasons a person engages in that behavior. Many behavioral theories used in health promotion do not consider behavioral maintenance but focus on initiating behavior. This is unfortunate as maintaining behavior, and not merely initiating behavior, is the true public health goal. The aim of SCT is to explain how people regulate and reinforce their actions to achieve goal-oriented behavior that can be sustained over time (Fertman & Allensworth 2017).The theory that best supports the planning project is the cognitive theory. The research on the reduction of smoking by high school was based on social cognitive theory. According to SCT, behaviors longitudinally predicting the cessation of adolescent smoking include the perceived importance of quitting, willingness to quit smoking, reasons for smoking and motivations for quitting. The mindset that longitudinally predicts adolescent smoking cessation is higher overall confidence (i.e. self-efficacy) in being able to quit smoking, based on SCT. Overall trust in quitting smoking is derived in part from two forms of behavioral processes: the perceived capacity to avoid smoking in the face of stressful situations and social situations (Bricker 2010).ReferencesBricker, J. B., Liu, J., Comstock, B. A., Peterson, A. V., Kealey, K. A., & Marek, P. M. (2010). Social cognitive mediators of adolescent smoking cessation: results from a large randomized intervention trial. Psychology of addictive behaviors: journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors, 24(3), 436–445. doi:10.1037/a0019800Fertman, C. I., & Allensworth, D. D. M. (2017). Health promotion programs: from theory to practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, a Wiley brand.
