The central concern of health education is health behavior. If behaviors change but health is not subsequently enriched, the result is an inconsistency that must be resolved by examining other issues, such as the link between behavior and health status or how behavior and health (or both) are measured (Conner, Sparks, 1996). The goal of the Precaution Adoption Process Model (PAPM) is to explain how a person comes in different stages to decide and take action, and how he or she interprets that choice into action. Adoption of new protection or cessation of a risky performance such as the use of seatbelt in protecting lives requires careful steps, which is unlikely to occur outside of conscious alertness. It is my understanding that PAPM relates to types of activities, not to the steady development of habitual patterns of behavior, such as exercise and diet, in which health considerations may play some roles (Gibbons, Gerrard, Blanton, and Russell, 1998). The use of adult seatbelt is the most active way of protecting lives, while reducing injuries in crashes. Research has shown that millions of adults do not like to wear car seatbelt or are unaware of the consequences of not wearing the seatbelt (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.).
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Seat Belts: Get the Facts. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/seatbelts/facts.html
Conner, M., & Sparks, P. (1996). The theory of planned behavior and health behaviors. In M. Conner & P. Norman (Eds.), Predicting health behavior: Research and practice with social cognition models (pp. 121-162). Buckingham, England: Open University Press
Gibbons, F.X., Gerrard, M., Blanton, H., and Russell, B.W. (1998). Reasoned action and social reaction: willingness and intention as independent predictors of health risk. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(5), 1164-80.
