Factors Associated With the Experience of Cognitive Training Apps for the Prevention of Dementia: Cross-sectional Study Using an Extended Health Belief Model

Background The prevalence and economic burden of dementia are increasing dramatically. Using information communication technology to improve cognitive functions is proven to be effective and holds the potential to serve as a new and efficient method for the prevention of dementia. Objective The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with the experience of mobile apps for cognitive training in middle-aged adults. We evaluated the relationships between the experience of cognitive training apps and structural variables using an extended health belief model. Methods An online survey was conducted on South Korean participants aged 40 to 64 years (N=320). General characteristics and dementia knowledge were measured along with the health belief model constructs. Statistical analysis and logistic regression analysis were performed. Results Higher dementia knowledge (odds ratio [OR] 1.164, P=.02), higher perceived benefit (OR 1.373, P<.001), female gender (OR 0.499, P=.04), and family history of dementia (OR 1.933, P=.04) were significantly associated with the experience of cognitive training apps for the prevention of dementia. Conclusions This study may serve as a theoretical basis for the development of intervention strategies to increase the use of cognitive training apps for the prevention of dementia.

MFS usage intention during COVID-19 and beyond: an integration of health belief and expectation confirmation model

Purpose The usage rate of mobile financial services (MFS) has shown an uptick since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. This study aims to reveal the underpinning reasons for such MFS surge and its continuance by integrating health belief model (HBM) and expectation confirmation model (ECM).Design/methodology/approach The study analyzes 529 MFS users' responses during the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak in Bangladesh using the partial least square method.Findings Satisfaction is more predictive than perceived usefulness in explaining continuance usage intention. Expectation confirmation also indirectly affects continuance intention. Among the HBM constructs, the indirect effect of perceived severity on continuance intention via perceived usefulness and satisfaction is significant. Besides, the impact of self-efficacy on continuance intention is also significant. Moreover, perceived credibility significantly affects satisfaction and indirectly affected continuance usage intention via satisfaction.Practical implications The study projects boosting customers' satisfaction is critical for the successful retention of existing MFS customers. MFS service providers should emphasize the factors that amplify satisfaction. They must evaluate preadoption factors so that customers can have positive confirmation. Especially, the service providers, the policymakers and the regulators should take an active role in improving the users' self-efficacy and the system's credibility. Undertaking the MFS literacy program, installing hotline service to provide emergency help will boost users' confidence in using the system.Originality/value The study is a unique contribution in the context of Bangladesh. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous MFS studies in Bangladesh explored MFS continuance usage intention during COVID-19 and beyond. Besides, the inclusion of “perceived credibility” in the framework will supplement the earlier studies conducted on this aspect.

Farmers’ Perceptions, Insight Behavior and Communication Strategies for Rice Straw and Stubble Management in Thailand

The adoption of rice straw and stubble management approaches can be affected by various factors. To understand the psychological factors influencing Thai farmers’ adoption of rice straw and stubble management approaches, three integrated behavioral theories were employed: the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) and the Health Belief Model (HBM). Then, a practical communication framework was synthesized and proposed to promote rice straw utilization for social-ecological benefits to achieve more sustainable agricultural production. Through a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews with 240 local farmers, a statistical analysis was performed employing cross-tab, stepwise multiple linear regression, one-way ANOVA and descriptive content analysis using QDA lite miner software. The key results clearly showed that perceived pro-environmental personal norms, perceived cues to rice straw utilization, perceived behavioral control, perceived severity of rice straw burning, perceived ascription of responsibility, and the perceived benefits of rice straw utilization were significantly negatively influenced by burning, and that there was a significantly negative difference to non-burning approaches. Meanwhile, cost savings as perceived benefits of the current option of burning showed a significantly positive difference when compared with incorporation and free-duck grazing options. In communication strategies to promote rice straw utilization for achieving sustainable agriculture, key messages should highlight the clear steps of rice straw utilization, as well as the costs and benefits of each option in terms of economic, health, environmental and social perspectives. Moreover, messages designed to promote action knowledge and self-efficacy at the group level, to promote perceived responsibility via self-awareness and self-commitment, and convenient channels of communication to the farmers can help to achieve more effective non-burning rice straw and stubble management.

Testing the Effectiveness of the Health Belief Model in Predicting Preventive Behavior During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of Romania and Italy

We use a cultural psychology approach to examine the relevance of the Health Belief Model (HBM) for predicting a variety of behaviors that had been recommended by health officials during the initial stages of the COVID-19 lockdown for containing the spread of the virus and not overburdening the health system in Europe. Our study is grounded in the assumption that health behavior is activated based on locally relevant perceptions of threats, susceptibility and benefits in engaging in protective behavior, which requires careful attention to how these perceptions might be structured and activated. We assess the validity of the HBM in two European countries that have been relatively understudied, using simultaneous measurements during acute periods of infection in Romania and Italy. An online questionnaire provided a total of (N = 1863) valid answers from both countries. First, to understand individual difference patterns within and across populations, we fit a General Linear Model in which endorsement was predicted by behavior, country, their interaction, and a random effect for participants. Second, we assess the effect of demographics and health beliefs on prevention behaviors by fitting a multi-group path model across countries, in which each behavior was predicted by the observed health belief variables and demographics. Health beliefs showed stronger relationships with the recommended behaviors than demographics. Confirming previously reported relationships, self-efficacy, perceived severity, and perceived benefits were consistently related to the greater adoption of individual behaviors, whereas greater perceived barriers were related to lower adoption of health behaviors. However, we also point to important location specific effects that suggest that local norms shape protective behavior in highly contextualized ways.

Factors That Prevent Mosquito-Borne Diseases among Migrant Workers in Taiwan: Application of the Health Belief Model in a Church-Based Health Promotion Study

Background: Southeast Asian countries have long been considered epidemic areas for mosquito-borne diseases (MBDs), and most imported cases of infectious diseases in Taiwan are from these areas. Taiwanese migrant workers are mainly of Southeast Asian nationality, and of these, 22% are Filipino. Migrant workers’ knowledge of MBDs and self-protection behaviors are beneficial to disease prevention and treatment. This study aims to understand the effectiveness of a health education intervention (HEI) for Filipino migrant workers in Taiwan and explores the factors affecting preventive practices. Methods: The study was conducted between May to September 2018. Participants were recruited from two Catholic churches in Taichung City. A professional delivered a 30 min HEI in person, and a structured questionnaire was used to acquire and assess participants’ knowledge, health beliefs, and preventive behaviors for MBDs before and after the intervention. Results: A total of 291 participants were recruited. The intervention program showed a positive impact on the migrant worker’s knowledge and the perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and preventive practices. Knowledge, perceived severity, and perceived barriers were factors influencing preventive practices in Filipino migrant workers. Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrated that we can direct our efforts towards three areas: improving foreign migrant workers’ awareness of diseases, emphasizing the severity of the disease, and eliminating possible hindrances in the future. As one example, migrant workers could be proactively provided with routine medical examinations and multilingual health education lectures to improve knowledge and preventive practices to contain the spread MBDs.

Implementasi Health Belief Model terhadap pelaksanaan vaksinasi untuk penanggulangan pandemi Corona Virus Diseases-19 (Covid-19) pada tenaga kesehatan Kabupaten Nagan Raya

Background: World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a pandemic. Interventions are needed not only in terms of implementing health protocols but also other effective interventions to decrease the transmission of disease through vaccination efforts which are aimed at reducing transmission/transmission of COVID-19, reducing morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19, and achieving group immunity in the community society (herd immunity).Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify the implementation of a health belief model for the implementation of vaccination in the context of overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic in health workers within the Nagan Raya District Health Office.Method: The type of research used a descriptive-analytic approach with a cross-sectional study design with a total sampling method of sampling. The sample in this study was 76 health workers from a population of 76 health workers at the Nagan Raya District Health Office. This study was conducted from March to September 2021. Data analysis used Chi-Square statistical test and Binary Logistic Regression with a significance level of 95%.Results: The results of this study indicate that there is a significant relationship between perceived susceptibility (p = 0.041), perceived benefits (p = 0.047), and cues to action (p = 0.037) with the implementation of vaccination in the context of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic for health workers. There is no relationship between perceived severity (p = 1,000) and perceived barriers (p = 0,280) with the implementation of vaccination in the context of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in health workers.Conclusion: The dimension of the health belief model that is highly dominant related to the implementation of vaccination in the context of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in health workers is the perceived susceptibility variable with a value of p= 0.041 and Exp (B) = 5.376.

Peer-led theoretically Desinged HIV/AIDS prevention intervention among students: a case of health belief model

Background & aim HIV/AIDS is one of the most dangerous viruses known in the world. In addition, considering its fatality rate and high cost of care, it is a serious threat to the health and economy of social communities. Adolescents are one of the high-risk groups. One of the most effective ways to prevent this disease is to promote healthcare, raise awareness, and change health-related beliefs and attitudes. This study aims at determining the effect of peer education, based on the health belief model, on the preventative measures against AIDS adopted by girls. Methods & materials In this empirical-interventionist study two schools were randomly selected, one of which was considered as the intervention group and the other as the control group. The classes were also randomly selected and 80 students from each school took part in the project following the entry criterion. A questionnaire with acceptable validity and reliability was used to collect data. In this study a few bright students were chosen as peer educators after being trained. The intervention group (N = 80) received 4 sessions of 60-min education through training, lectures, question and answer, and group discussion, But the control group received no instruction. The posttest was administered two months after the treatment. The data was fed into the SPSS 16. Finally, T-test, Chi-Square, and ANCOVA were employed to analyze the data. Results The average scores obtained from the intervention group and the control group were not significantly different in terms of awareness level, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, perceived self-efficacy, behavioral intention, and behavior in baseline (P>0.05). Two months after the intervention there was a significant increase in the average scores of all the variables in the experimental group (P > 0.05). However, there was no significant change in the scores of the control group (P > 0.05). Conclusion Following a health belief model focusing on peer eduaction among high school girls, the intervention eduaction can affect awareness level, susceptibility, severity, benefits, perceived barriers, perceived self-efficacy, behavioral intention, and finally avoidance of high-risk behavior.