Introduction: Examination of the existing literature in respect of health expectations revealed both ambiguity in relation to terminology, and relatively little work in respect of how abstract theories of expectancy in the psychological literature might be used in empirical research into the influence of expectations on attitudes and behaviours in the real world. This paper presents a conceptual model for the development of health expectations with specific reference to Alzheimer's disease.
Method: Literature review, synthesis and conceptual model development, illustrated by the case of a person with newly diagnosed, early-stage Alzheimer's disease, and her caregiver.
Outcome: Our model envisages the development of a health expectation as incorporating several longitudinal phases (precipitating phenomenon, prior understanding, cognitive processing, expectation formulation, outcome, post-outcome cognitive processing).
Conclusion: Expectations are a highly important but still relatively poorly understood phenomenon in relation to the experience of health and health care. We suggest a pragmatic conceptual model designed to clarify the process of expectation development, in order to inform future research into the measurement of health expectations and to enhance our understanding of the influence of expectations on health behaviours and attitudes.