On the use of theories in study of personal health behavior during epidemics/pandemics

Abstract

Communicable diseases pass all the geographical and political boundaries as a result of globalization, population movement, and international trade regime. Every year, the WHO publishes a long list of new disease outbreaks. Thus, Covid-19 is not the last and the only disease that requires adjustment in health behavior and public participation. During an epidemic/pandemic, different countries design new and different public health measures to protect their own population. However, people may choose to follow these new policies or ignore them. Choosing to ignore them jeopardizes the effect of new public health policies and counteracts all the efforts of healthcare providers. This theoretical paper attempts to provide a theoretical foundation for personal health behaviors during an epidemic/pandemic by providing evidence from the current Covid-19 outbreak. This paper covers the main theoretical aspects from the epidemiological transition decision-making process, health belief model, optimism bias, conspiracy theory and trust, stigmatization and super-spreader, and social determinates of health in three levels (from individual level to social and contextual level), which can allow us to understand personal health behavior during epidemics/pandemics.