The Impact of Educational Intervention Based on the Health Belief Model on Adopting COVID-19 Preventive Behaviors Among Clients of Urban Health Centers

The COVID-19 outbreak, the ongoing pandemic of Coronavirus disease 2019, has become a clinical threat worldwide. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of educational intervention, based on the health belief model (HBM), on adopting COVID-19 preventive behaviors in clients referring to urban health centers in Zabol City, Iran.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted on clients referring to urban health centers in Zabol City (Southeast of Iran) in 2021. A total of 160 participants (80 each in the intervention group and the control group) were selected using the convenience sampling approach. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data. The questionnaire was completed by all participants before and one month after the educational intervention. The educational intervention was conducted using an educational program based on the HBM for 4 weeks. The intervention was performed during 8 sessions of face-to-face interactions in the classroom (two 1 hour sessions per week). The statistical analysis of the data was performed using SPSS software, version 22. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA), t-test, and paired t-test. The P was considered 0.05 in this study.

The mean age of participants in the intervention and control groups was 35.0±12.34 and 33.87±11.33 years. The mean score of awareness, perceived sensitivity, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived self-efficacy, and COVID-19 prevention behaviors significantly increased one month after the intervention (P<0.05). 

The results indicated the effectiveness of educational intervention based on HBM on COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Therefore, it is recommended that health centers employ educational intervention programs based on this model.