Health Related Behavioral Change

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.

Behavioral healthcare has morphed its face over the last century from one that was focused on inpatient psychiatric hospitals to community-based behavioral health centers. From the beginning, “notions that people with mental illness are sometimes unpredictable and perhaps dangerous to know”, has caused a large stigma associated with behavioral health (Lawrie, 2015). With these changing facets also come challenges. There are challenges of consumer expectations and the treatment of behavioral health disorders from primary care providers. Insurance access also raises another challenge, that has slowly changed, as well as the retention of staffing. The financial stability of a facility is also an important factor for healthcare and for the behavioral healthcare system.

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 Change has become popular over the past few decades in explaining health behaviors like substance and alcohol abuse, dieting, and smoking cessation. It has four parts to it, the first being the stages of change. The Stages of Change Model gives explanations for different points on the path to intentional behavioral change (Vilela, Jungerman, Laranjeira, & Callaghan, 2009). Intentional behavioral changes are changes in the habitual patterns of behavior that are related to issues such as substance or alcohol abuse. There are six steps in the Stages of Change Model: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and

Explain two models of behaviour change that have been used in recent national health education campaigns.

Even though for the health behavior change assignment I was asked to choose only one behavior to change, I felt that altering a few behaviors at the same time would facilitate more

An individual's attitude towards his health influences his capacity to maintain an optimum level of health, prevent illness or recover from a disease. Understanding patient's attitude towards his condition is the key to establishing an effective health-related program for health promotion, disease prevention and disease management. Hence, different health behavior theories have emerged. All of these are designed to help the patient and his family to facilitate learning, adjustment and behavior change to improve his quality of life. ( Butts & Rich, 2011)

The transtheoretical model helps explain the patient’s behavior change related to the health aspects. As per this change agent, the patient’s purposeful behavior change consists of the cognitive and the performance-based elements. The five stages of the model are precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and the maintenance stage (Virginia Tech Continuing & Professional Education, n.d.).

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.

The behavior change that I chose was to drink more water every day. Furthermore, my more specific goal was to drink eight glasses per day. My long-term goal by the end of the behavior change project was to drink eight glasses a day, because that is the recommended amount that a healthy human being should drink. I set short-term goals to help make my behavior change easier to accomplish. My short-term goals were to drink two glasses of water per day by the end of week one, four glasses of water per day by the end of week two, and six glasses of water per day by the end of week three. When going through this behavior change project, I personally discovered that there are not only many benefits from this behavior change, but also many barriers.

On individual level changes in health promotion and ecological approaches target and influence multiple health behaviors. This is because the individuals living in the environment are embedded in temporary change of behaviors. Therefore it is very important to consider ecological approaches, changing health behaviors and environmental factors while designing operational and supportable health promotion plans.

In the article “A Qualitative Study Exploring Facilitators for Improved Health Behaviors and Health Behavior Programs: Mental Health Service Users’ Perspectives,” in The Scientific World Journal, we learn that world wide there is an increased risk for clients with mental health issues to also have physical health issues. Ability and influence are crucial aspects to captivate mental health service clients in essential health management revisions and treatment commitment.

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).

Individuals are products of their life experiences, with the ability to create and modify behavior; the ultimate goal of alteration of a behavior is improving some aspect of your life through analysis, and implementation of sequential procedures. For this project, I have chose to modify an increase in my daily water consumption, with the intention to enhance overall health and wellness. Water is an essential element for the survival of the human body. At least 20% of water necessary each day is consumed through the foods you eat, with direct consumption of water the most effective and beneficial method of rehydration. Each day, water is lost through the process of urination, respiration and perspiration, and in order for these bodily functions to occur water must be continually replaced through our daily diet. When water is not consumed individuals are at risk of dehydration, which can negatively impact the human body. These symptoms include thirst, headaches, dry-skin, fatigue, join and muscle pain. As a full-time university student, working part-time with social commitments throughout the day it is often difficult to intentionally reflect on how much water I have consumed, with in some instances not having access to a water bottle at all times. Research suggests, that the transtheoretical model of change, also known as the stages of change model, will be a good model for changing this behavior. The transtheoretical model is an integrative and comprehensive model of

I was in the Precontemplation Stage for years. Individuals in the precontemplation stage “do not intend to take action in the foreseeable future” (Pro-Change Behaviour Systems Inc., para. 5). People in this stage are unaware of the need for change. I grew up not knowing the risks of being overweight and the potential for other diseases to occur from this unhealthy lifestyle. I ate when there was a meal given to me and played outside when I felt like it, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching movies alone. I never knew I needed a lifestyle behavioural change until middle school. I was constantly bullied for being overweight. I found myself fatigued and often out of breath. I hated gym class and often skipped it due to being ashamed of my