Taking ownership to prevent infections

Although we know that infections are preventable, there are some people who believe that this is not the case. They believe they have no control or influence – that infections happen by chance.  The problem is that if we believe we have no control over whether we get an infection, we are unlikely to change our hygiene behaviour

In this presentation Professor Lisa Ackerley examines the “Health Belief Model”. This  model, first developed to explain why people smoke even though they know it will kill them, has been adapted to explain the factors which influence people to change (or not change) their hygiene behaviour. Lisa discusses each of the factors which are likely to affect behaviour change which include: Lack of knowledge, Perceived likelihood of getting ill, Perceived severity of illness, Personal cost benefit analysis, Demographics, Culture, religion, beliefs and myths.