Health Communication through Health Promotion: The Influence of Health Belief Model and Protection Motivation Theory

Health promotion plays a significant role in health communication in modifying publics' behaviour. Proper communication would lead towards the changes in their health awareness which then translate to better health condition. Recognition of the role of health promotion can positively increase health awareness is well-known. Health Promotion has been closely related to the Health Belief Model (HBM) and Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). Health promotion in Malaysia is fairly low despite the many health campaigns and public awareness programs organized by the Malaysian Government. If this is not the scenario, more lives could be saved if Malaysians were more aware of their health condition before it is too late. Therefore, this study attempted to examine the relationship of HBM and PMT towards health awareness. The main objectives of this study is to determine if any if the elements of HBM and PMT influences health awareness. The population for this study will composed of multi-cultural citizens of Malaysia from the five regions namely northern region, southern region, central region, east cost region, and Sabah, Sarawak, Labuan region.