Planned health education and the role of self-efficacy: Dutch research

Self-efficacy is defined as the estimation of the person about his/her ability to perform a specific behavior. The important role of self-efficacy in health education is argued, illustrated with Dutch research, which shows that self-efficacy is an important determinant of health behavior, of future health behavior and of health behavior change. Programs to improve self-efficacy by skills training have been developed successfully.