Introduction to a complex school-based health education program from the COM-B model’s perspective

Abstract

Adolescence is a very important period in terms of education for safe health behaviour. The present study introduces a complex school-based health education program developed along pedagogical, youth-psychological and medical aspects, based on peer education, presented from the COM-B model’s perspective. According to the COM-B model, the factors influencing behaviour (B) can be grouped into three categories basically: capacity (C), opportunity (O) and motivation (M). Our program, the Balassagyarmat Health Education Program puts a special emphasis on expanding the knowledge of the target-group members (C), developing an environment that promotes positive health behaviour (O) and deepening motivation (M) through rewarding and personal interactions.