Health Behavior Change - Essay Example

Health behavior change Behavior change is becoming a pivotal objective as far as the public health interventions are concerned. It is significantly attributed to the increased attention given to the prevention approach to health services at all levels. It has turn to be a massive concern within the developing countries where the benefits of healthy spending and the associated costs have not been given the right attention in the recent past. The risk behaviors are the significant source of many problems we face in our lives. From this uncalled for behaviors emanates excessive drinking, the usage of substances, careless driving, smoking and engaging in unprotected sex is very common in recent times. The big question in this healthy behavior research paper is to predict effectively and then modify the eminent adoption and the health behavior maintenance. Since human beings are in control of their conduct, then it is very possible to eliminate or reduce these dangerous heath behaviors through ensuring the adoption of the health enhancing behaviors. It is positive response activities range from physical exercise, weight control, and preventive nutrition all through to the action process aimed at abandoning the health health-threatening behaviors in an endeavor to adopt the enhancing behaviors. The evolving behavior change programs have been in existence for the time. These programs comprise of many activities and structured approaches focusing on an individual, a community, and the environmental influence on our behavior. The most important and the deterministic factor in people healthy is their behavior. The recently increased morbidity and mortality around the globe are because of lifestyle risk factors, which are evident in the current world. Most of the prevalent chronic conditions in the world today such as cancer, obstructive lung diseases, and the cardiovascular diseases emanate from the life-threatening behaviors in existence today. Lifestyle behaviors such as lack of enough exercise, high levels of caloric intake and an excessive consumption of alcohol are the real precursors to the diseases mentioned above. These life-threatening behaviors lead to High cholesterol levels and the increased cases of high blood pressure. Through research, it is now evident that a healthy lifestyle, which includes regular exercise, a well-balanced diet, coupled with blood pressure control measures, and the abstinence of smoking leads to a longer and healthier lifespan. Since personal behavior purely influences ones healthy, it means that people can improve their health through better management of their chronic conditions by engaging in health promoting behaviors. For the people with chronic health conditions to manage their health well, behavior change is inevitable. Both the healthy and the people with chronic health conditions have a golden opportunity to improve their health by practicing regular health promoting activities. Nurses and other healthcare professionals have an obligation to identify behaviors that are critical to health, assess the particular needs of the individuals involved and make the necessary recommendations. The resulting designed interventions enhance and promote health engagement behaviors. Finally, these professionals have a duty to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed interventions on personal, community and the nation at large. In order to make their responsibilities a success, and then there is the need for them to understand the theory and science of health behavior change. In addition, they need to understand what is known notwithstanding the gaps and opportunities. It is critical to mention that the best knowledge development is that which is based on the success of the past. The primary purpose of the article is to elude an approach to behavior change and their effectiveness. Approaches to a Behavior Change An ecological approach to behavior change It is well known that there exists a wide range of factors, which include personal, social, and environmental, which can influence behavior. The personal factors comprise of the human attributes such as the individuals skills, knowledge, genetics, and attitudes. The social part consists of the individual’s interaction with other people, which may include friends, his /her family, and the entire community. The environment has to do with the surrounding. The person lives such as the workplace and schools in this area. The environment can also be looked at from a wider perspective of the economy and the prevailing technology. Under this, a complex network of the social and the biologically related factors should be given a priority when one is formulating his endeavors to mitigate behavior related ailments such as obesity. A perfect combination of the interventions that are delivered over a long period will only be effective if and only if it addresses the three levels mentioned above. An ecological approach must address the factors influencing behavior at an individual, societal and at the environmental level to be effective. An ecological approach also proves to quite economical when adapted to impact behavior change in an individual. A Self-determination theory to behavior change A perfect combination of the aspect of skill development and an intrinsic motivation and reason can work magically in affecting a lasting change in behavior. The application of intrinsic motivation eliminates the possibility of the usage of external pressure such as the promise of rewards, punishment or possibilities of disapproval from the concerned professionals. The intrinsic motivation exists in individuals, and it is always driven by the desire in the task to be undertaken. It is the best approach since the results are very enduring and very stable. The clients involved in the behavior change process must believe that the process is enjoyable, and that is compatible their sense of self-values and their life goals. This theory is supported by probing the reasons as to why the client should persist and why the new behavior would effectively relate to the wider goals. For this approach to work, then the clients under the process of change must feel that they possess a sense of choice and responsibility for their individual actions. During a one-year weight control program that involved over weights of about 250 individuals. During the programme, a self-regulatory technique was used. Here. The participants were given two options: either to reduce energy intake or on centrally to increase their level of energy expenditure. By the end of the trial process the autonomous desire for physical activity prevailed. As a result also the prevention intervention had a positive impact on the eating behaviors of the participants The role of social marketing in behavior change Focusing on particular principles emanates from commercial marketing, which correspondingly results to social marketing. Social marketing majorly employs the behavior change theory to influence the behavior for the social good drastically. The benefits derived from social marketing are squarely for the society and not for the marketing organization. To ensure the effectiveness of the social marketing process then market segmentation is usually inevitable. A perfect example of social marketing is the Change 4 life campaign. This campaign was launched in the UK back in 2009. This campaign was involving several stakeholders such as the government, the media, and the industry together with the retailers. Three worked together to create a societal change towards healthier behaviors through making the new behaviors appear fun and realistically achievable. However social marketing as an approach to effect change in behavior has been criticized since it is very hard to have an immediate promotion of healthy lifestyle choice benefits. Because of this drawback then social marketing should not be regarded as an effective tool for behavior change. Using technology as an effective tool to behavior change Technology has come of age, and so many possibilities are presented by this scope it offers. For instance, the E- health interventions witnessed of late through the internet justifies that the Internet is a perfect platform for disseminating information. Though internet based interventions are cited as been cost effective, there always arises the problem of data shortage. Due to this limitation, other communication methods have come to plays such as the short message service abbreviated as the SMS. Through this service, reminders of the profound benefits of exercise can effectively facilitate a behavior change. For instance, a weight loss intervention through the SMS service has proved to be effective for the people by receiving a personalized text between 2-5 times a daily. This version contained tips and questions on different topics concerning the health of an individual. To make the service more efficient, a monthly call from a trained health officer would answer all the provocative questions from the clients. Through this intervention, weight loss was pronounced on those who received a telephone than those who received purely printed materials on weight loss. In addition to the use of technology, video gaming has proved to be effective in engaging an audience. The entertaining and interactive technology presented by the gaming devices has shown to have an impact on the behavior of the users and to influence their health-related behavior as well. For example, through a study it was discovered that the combination of stationary cycling and interactive video games drastically led to increased improvements in physical fitness. Through another study, it was realized that video games that showed active games resulted to an increased indulgence of the individuals involved in light of moderately intense physical kind of activities. In conclusion, the knowledge of what is successful in the arena of health behavior change is imperative to achieving a better improvement in health and the prevention of disease. The growing recognition of this in the recent past has called for great work of trying to examine the best approach to be undertaken. There is considerable evidence that the use of theory in designing and implementing health promotion programs improves their effectiveness. Despite this the evidence mentioned above, we still lack enough evidence concerning which techniques to use to affect this behavior change. An intervention should not only be directed towards a behavior only but also help in creating communities and an environment that will enable the change. Its clearly means that there is the need to do the full evaluation of the interventions to understand the behavior change. Works Cited Tessaro IA, Taylor S, & Belton L, et al. adapting a natural (lay) helper’s model of change for worksite health promotion for women. Health Educ Res. 2008; 15(5):603–614 Michie S, Johnston M,& Francis JJ, et al. From theory to intervention: mapping theoretically derived behavioral determinants to behaviour change techniques. Applied Psychology: an international review 2008. 57(4):660–680. Center for Disease Control Chronic Disease Program. Chronic disease overview. [March 28, 2008].http://www.cdc.gov/print.do?url=http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/overview.htm U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010: Understanding and Improving Health. 2nd ed. U.S. Government Printing Office; Washington, DC: 2000.  Jamison DT, Breman JG, Measham AR, et al., Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries. 2nd edition Chapter 2: Intervention Cost-Effectiveness (eds)(2006) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11784/ US Center for Disease Control and Prevention National Prevention Strategy Accessed May 2015 http://www.cdc.gov/features/preventionstrategy/ Read More