INHE 2001 Week 2 Theory Application Example

The Behavior First, the Model Second: Applying the Health Belief Model to Skipped Goggles and Free-Poured Disinfectant on a Hospital Housekeeping Crew

Student Name

Walden University

INHE 2001: Fundamentals of Health Education and Behavior

Instructor Name

Month Day, Year

The Behavior First, the Model Second: Applying the Health Belief Model to Skipped Goggles and Free-Poured Disinfectant on a Hospital Housekeeping Crew

The Problem in Behavioral Terms

Among the evening housekeepers at the hospital where I work, two behaviors keep showing up in supervisors' notes. When a jug of concentrated disinfectant runs empty at the dilution station, staff often swap it without putting on the splash goggles that hang beside the dispenser. And when the dispenser is slow, some fill spray bottles by pouring concentrate directly and topping up with tap water. Over three months, the department logged two eye-splash incidents, both during a jug change. The behavior to change is specific: wear goggles for every jug change, and fill bottles only through the dispenser. Hospital cleaning staff handle disinfectants across many tasks every shift (Saito et al., 2015), so these two moments are frequent, not rare.

The Model Chosen

Under the Health Belief Model, protective action becomes more likely when they see themselves as susceptible to a harmful outcome, see that outcome as serious, believe the action brings benefits and see few barriers to taking it, with cues to action and later self-efficacy added to the model (Janz & Becker, 1984; Rosenstock, 1974). I chose it because the crew's own explanations, gathered in short conversations during shift, were mostly about beliefs: whether a splash could really happen, and whether goggles were worth the hassle.

Applying Each Construct

Perceived susceptibility attaches well. Several housekeepers said splashes "happen to the day crew," who handle more jug changes, which suggests the evening crew sees itself as less at risk.

Perceived benefits attach partly. Staff agreed goggles prevent eye injury, but several said the dispenser makes free-pouring unnecessary only when it works properly, so the benefit of using it depends on its condition.

Perceived barriers attach strongly. Goggles fog, sit on a hook that is often empty after the day shift, and slow a task done dozens of times a night. The dispenser takes nearly a minute to fill a large bottle. These are the clearest explanations of the behavior.

Cues to action attach. The two incidents were discussed at a safety minute, and staff mentioned the goggle hooks as a reminder when they were stocked.

Self-efficacy attaches weakly; no one doubted they could put goggles on.

The Construct With Nothing to Attach To

Perceived severity found nothing. In every conversation, no one described what an eye splash from concentrated disinfectant could do, and no one said it would be minor either. I cannot claim the crew underrates severity; I simply have no information. Rather than inventing a finding, I report severity as an assumption: the plan will assume staff may not know how serious a concentrate splash can be, and the needs assessment next week will test that assumption directly.

What the Application Suggests

The model points mostly to barriers and benefits, not to fear. That fits a meta-analysis of the model, which found perceived benefits and barriers the most consistent predictors of behavior, with severity and susceptibility weaker (Carpenter, 2010). Education that only stresses how bad eye injuries are would aim at the weakest part of the model and at a belief I have not yet shown is missing. Education that addresses barriers, such as anti-fog goggles and a refill routine for the hooks, along with the benefit of using the dispenser, matches what the crew actually said.

References

Carpenter, C. J. (2010). A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of health belief model variables in predicting behavior. Health Communication, 25(8), 661-669. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2010.521906

Janz, N. K., & Becker, M. H. (1984). The health belief model: A decade later. Health Education Quarterly, 11(1), 1-47. https://doi.org/10.1177/109019818401100101

Rosenstock, I. M. (1974). Historical origins of the health belief model. Health Education Monographs, 2(4), 328-335. https://doi.org/10.1177/109019817400200403

Saito, R., Virji, M. A., Henneberger, P. K., Humann, M. J., LeBouf, R. F., Stanton, M. L., Liang, X., & Stefaniak, A. B. (2015). Characterization of cleaning and disinfecting tasks and product use among hospital occupations. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 58(1), 101-111. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.22393