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S.SHARON
HIVLecture9.pptx
Chapter 9 - Prevention of AIDS
The key to preventing AIDS
is to stop the transmission of the HIV virus
before it enters the human body
Disease prevention and Health Promotion
Ideally:
Give information on prevention to people at risk:
Avoid certain risky sexual practices.
Use condoms.
Stop sharing needles.
Avoid direct contact with certain human body fluids.
Once informed, everyone would follow prevention measures.
The spread of HIV will be halted.
Not so fast! Disseminating information is not the same as
getting people to change their attitude, and not the same as
getting them to change their behaviors.
WHY NOT???
Models of Health Behavior Change
Health belief model
Health decision model
Precaution-Adoption Process model
These three models are complementary to
each other, not in competition with one another.
Models of Health Behavior Change
Health belief model -
a person’s decision about whether to modify
his behavior depends on how he perceives the situation,
even thought his perception may be wrong:
He may underestimate his susceptibility to infection with HIV.
He may under-rate the severity of the disease.
He may not believe that the preventative measure is effective anyway.
Models of Health Behavior Change
2. Health decision model
The decision to change health behaviors and attitudes
are made with some attention to our past experiences
with other people who are important to us, our knowledge
of others’ views and opinions, and our current interactions
with others (i/e., how our culture feels about condom usage)
Models of Health Behavior Change
3. Precaution-Adoption Process model
States that a change in attitude and behavior is
not instantaneous or based on logic. It is a slow process.
Awareness or knowledge of a risk or threat
Acknowledgment of a significant risk to some group of people
Acknowledgment of a significant risk to oneself
Decision to take action to reduce the risk
Initiation of the behavior
Principles of Health Behavior Change
These are programs that are developed by health behavior researchers to foster health-related
attitude and behavior changes.
The programs are based on the three
Health Behavior Models.
Principles of Health Behavior Change
The Cognitive Principle
The Emotional Principle
The Behavioral Principle
The Interpersonal Principle
The Social Ecological Principle
The Structural Principle
The Scientific Principle
Principles of Health Behavior Change
The Cognitive Principle
People need to know the facts about HIV:
Risk of becoming infected
How it is, or is not, transmitted
The consequences of infection
How to prevent infection
Appropriate language for audience
Correct any misinformation
Principles of Health Behavior Change
2. The Emotional Principle
Need to appeal to audience on an emotional level
Create an “Emotional Hook”.
Keep the degree of emotion in check.
Don’t create too much fear,
or message may backfire.
Positive emotional hooks work better than
negative emotional hooks.
Principles of Health Behavior Change
3. The Behavioral Principle
Recommend specific behaviors that a person
should adopt to avoid HIV infection.
Be as clear and specific as possible.
Include instructions, if applicable
(i.e., how to correctly put on a condom).
Principles of Health Behavior Change
4. The Interpersonal Principle
Consider the social network of the target audience,
“The Inner Circle”.
Your ability to convince a person to change his/her behavior is limited by the attitude of his sex partners, peers, family, church, etc.
You need to find out about those limitations
You need to find a way to work around those limitations in order to convince your target
Principles of Health Behavior Change
5. The Social Ecological Principle
Consider that a person’s behaviors are also
influenced by societal and cultural dimensions,
beyond his “Inner Circle”.
Target specific audiences with your message
Keep a low profile - don’t draw the fire of
outside groups who may have a hostile attitude.
May need to rely upon strong leaders or
role models to influence target groups
(i.e., celebrities)
Principles of Health Behavior Change
6. The Structural Principle
Consider that a person’s ability to change behavior may be inhibited by practical factors such as:
Laws
Insurance policies
Political factors
Proximity of testing centers
Availability of condoms
Principles of Health Behavior Change
7. The Scientific Principle
Use the scientific method to your advantage.
Evaluate quantitative data to determine the best components for a new program.
Evaluate:
Attitudes and behaviors in target group
Specific needs of this target group
Specific limitations of this target group
How well the new program is working.
Principles of Health Behavior Change
The Cognitive Principle
The Emotional Principle
The Behavioral Principle
The Interpersonal Principle
The Social Ecological Principle
The Structural Principle
The Scientific Principle
