Based on the Health Belief Model, which strategy should the practical nurse use to encourage a male client to stop smoking?

• A. Provide a pamphlet about nicotine replacement therapy.
• B. Ask the client how likely it would be for him to develop lung cancer.
• C. Assess whether the client considers lung cancer a serious health condition.
• D. Encourage the client to list how a smoking cessation program would benefit him.

Answer: (D)

In the Health Belief Model, people are more likely to take action when they see personal benefits from doing it and feel capable of succeeding. Encouraging the client to list how a smoking cessation program would benefit him directly ties quitting to outcomes that matter to him, making the benefits concrete and personally relevant. This helps motivate change, provides a natural cue to act, and boosts confidence by highlighting achievable gains he can anticipate. It moves beyond general information or abstract risk, focusing on what quitting would specifically mean for this individual. The other options tend to deliver information or probe beliefs without creating that personal, actionable payoff: a pamphlet gives general knowledge, asking about the chance of developing cancer addresses susceptibility, and asking whether cancer is seen as serious focuses on seriousness but not on personal benefits and the steps to achieve them.