Five Stages Of Health Behavior Change

Prochaska & DiClemente’s (1984) research suggests the Prochaska & DiClemente’s model of change is effective and has an impact in health promotion. The Prochaska & DiClemente’s model of change is becoming a more popular and widely used resource for health promotion; this is because it can be applied with a number of addictive behaviours such as smoking, drug use and alcohol abuse (Whitelaw, et al, 2000). The Prochaska & DiClemente’s model of change has six stages these include, Pre contemplation this is when the patient is not seriously considering change, Contemplation This is when the patient is thinking about change, Preparation when the

In this report it will investigate at least three recent health education campaigns and use them to explain two models of behaviour change. The three recent health education campaigns will be ‘Smoke Free’, ‘Change4Life’ and ‘FRANK’. The two models of behaviour change will be the theory of reasoned action and the stages of change model.

In everyday life many people develop habits, but it is never too late to attempt to change that bad habit to live a healthier life. For this behavioral change project, I was asked to choose a health behavior that I would like to change for the better. So, I decided that I wanted to increase the amount of water I was consuming each day. The standard recommendation on how much water an individual should consume is about 64 ounces daily. However how much a person should drink is more individualized then one might assume. Therefore, for this particular project my goal was to at least consume 64 ounces of water daily as a baseline starting point. I also had to consider days when I worked out. So, I decided that I would attempt to increase that amount

The Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change (TTM) was created by Prochaska and DiClemente. It is based on “(1) the stages of change, (2) the decisional balance scale, (3) the strong and weak principle, (4) self-efficacy, and (5) the processes of change” (Kelly, 2008, p. 149). A person’s progression through the stages depends on their perception of the advantages of adopting a healthy lifestyle (Kelly, 2008).

The behaviour modified for this self-directed behaviour change project is smoking. Smoking was selected as the behaviour I wish to change because it is known that tobacco use is the leading cause of premature, preventable death and disease (Edwards, Bondy, Callaghan, & Mann, 2014). Smoking is a behaviour that has been recently initiated; I started smoking occasionally in August 2013 (one cigarette a few times a week) and intended to buy only the one pack. However over a period of several months, my smoking has increased. The rationale for this choosing this target behaviour is that it is still a relatively

In this part of my assignment I will describe 2 different theories of behaviour change in relation to health.

The majority of people will decide to change their health behavior throughout their lifetime. The reasons for the change might be quite different from individual to individual. Some may be motivated to take action after experiencing a life threatening illness, while others are proactive and change their health behavior to decrease the risks of developing a potential disease. However, even if the reasons for the change are valid and well understood, there is a great possibility that one will not follow set goals long term. Stacy Carter, an assistant of professor and an author of the Social Validity Manual, expresses her opinion about people implementing a scientifically proven health behavior change treatment in their routine, “if it's something that is going to cause them a lot of effort, or is difficult to implement, then they probably are not going to use it for long” (Cranford, 2011). Use number superscript 1

Adhering to my health behavior change ended up being much more difficult than I thought it would end up being. I wanted to change my behavioral by going to the gym more often, more than three hours a week, and on a weekly basis. In the first week, I started off poorly and did not end up going to the gym once. The second week of my plan is when I was finally started to go to the gym and taking my plan seriously. I was available to meet my goal and spent three and a half hours at the gym that week. By week three, I only went for 2 hours that week at the gym.

For the very first time in my life, I had executed a series of behavior changes in order to lose fifteen pounds by this semester. I am pleased and more than grateful to see that my customized plan is successful, and took effect in different aspects of my well-being. “I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become”, I believe this quote by Carl Jung encapsulated why my health improvement plan would work – determination incorporated into a personalized plan. Hereinafter, I would like to discuss in details what and why had my behavior changes improved both my short-term and long-term health.

The contributing factor which makes it so successful is that it provides an explanation into the ‘how’ of behaviour change as opposed to the ‘why’, effectively demonstrating problematic areas which need to be addressed (Adam & White, 2003). This alludes to the source of the problematic behaviour and stimulates thought into how this behaviour can be changed. A main component of the model which makes it so effective is its integral focus on decision-making, important in promoting real change in the individual (Adam & White, 2003). Decision-making is imperative to this model’s success as it allows for intervention strategies that are individually tailored as well as applicable to a wider, diverse population (Nigg et al, 2011). Not all individuals begin at the same stage and hence TTM provides the appropriate mechanisms to support those who aren’t ready for change, those who are committed, and those who experience relapse (Nigg et al, 2011). For example, two individuals may utilise this model to engage in more effective behaviours regarding physical activity. Although they both share a common goal, they may be in different stages of the model – one individual may be in the preparation stage contemplating an exercise regime, while the other may be in the maintenance stage considering methods to maintain change (Nigg et al,

The change models are change agents that could explain the ways of implementing a change process. These models explain the reason for the change, what to expect during the process and the way a change occurs. Thus, these models help one understand the various aspects of the change process (Agriculture & Life Sciences: Texas A & M University, n.d.). The transtheoretical model of health behavior change could explain my evidence-based practice (EBP) project implementation plan.

The Transtheoretical Model is a theory of health behavior that suggests that behavior change is a process, not an event. There are five stages of change someone can go through while attempting to engage in positive behavior: precontemplation, no intention to act within six months; contemplation, intention to act within six months; preparation, intention to act within the next thirty days along with some behavioral steps; action, changed behavior for less than six months, maintenance, changed behavior for more than six months; termination, end of the behavior. These stages are not linear, so an individual can move up and down the stages of change indiscriminately.

Boskey (2014) concludes that a person’s willingness to change their health behaviors includes perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived barriers, and cues to action and self-efficacy. For example, Carpenter (2010) report the Health Belief Model stipulates that a change may occur if individuals see an adverse health outcome to be severe and perceive them to be vulnerable to it. Other perceptions include benefits of behaviors that reduce the likelihood of that outcome to be high, and the barriers to adopting those behaviors low (Carter, 2010). Furthermore, the HBM addresses the relationship between a person’s beliefs and behaviors. It provides a way of understanding and predicting how clients will behave about their health and how they will comply with healthcare therapies (Boskey, 2014).

The process of change describes how people change. These processes of change are divided into two categories; cognitive and behavioral. Cognitive is the thinking process of change and behavioral is the action process of change. The transtheoretical model suggests that people use different strategies, techniques or different amounts of each at different stages in their change process. Self-efficacy refers to confidence and an individual’s experience with confidence to perform specific behaviors in specific situations. Self-efficacy is a good predictor of behavior change. An individual with higher self-efficacy may be more likely to change a behavior even if the situation doesn’t have any positive reinforcements (Campbell, Eichhorn, Early, Caraccioli, Greely, 2012).

The strength of the proposal is incorporating behavior change into the intervention. The Transtheoretical Model stages used to assess the type of short – messaging service (SMS) messages to be sent to the participants is an innovative process that will facilitate behavioral change (Pender, Murdaugh, & Parsons, 2015). With your monthly individuals’ behavior stage assessments, appropriate health information can be presented to transition the participant to the next stage in pursuing health. For example, during the contemplative phase, motivational messages can promote participants to take interest in information which will pave the way into the planning stage (Pender et al., 2015). An important concept in young adults is the readiness to change health behaviors (Giles & Brennan, 2015).