Behavioural Change in the Person with a Health Behaviour That Puts Them at Risk of Illness - Essay Example

Running header: FACILITATING BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE IN THE PERSON WITH A HEALTH BEHAVIOUR THAT PUTS THEM AT RISK OF ILLNESS Behavioural Change: Smoking Name Course Instructor’s Name 27th April 2010 Introduction There are several problems that are associated with smoking. These include such diseases like emphysema, heart diseases as well as cancer among many other complications. As a result, smoking is nowadays highly discouraged (Hall & Brody, 2005). Furthermore, smokers are only allowed to smoke in some specific places that are set aside fore the dire purpose of smoking. Public smoking is restricted in most regions and this is to curb the bad effects that smoke from cigar has on the human life (Bergin & Garfield, 1994). In addition, the companies that produce cigarettes are denied the chance to advertise in the media (Pilnick & Coleman, 2010). However, there are still some people who are highly hooked up to the behaviour of smoking and no matter how much information they receive on how dangerous smoking is they just never change. This is because it is a great addiction to them. They say that once you start is next to impossible to stop. They attribute this to the mind getting used to nicotine. This paper focuses on the process of facilitating a behavioural change to a person with a smoking problem. It mainly focuses on the strategies that the medical practitioners may put in practice so as to help a smoker towards behavioural change. Strategies applied It is strategic for any health practitioner to assess the readiness of their patients to change. First, they should assess the importance, which the patients attach to the change, and secondly the efficacy of the patient, which is the self confidence, they have towards making it in the process of change. This means assessing whether the patient believes they can make it in the process of change (Pilnick & Coleman, 2010). Increasing motivation in the patient to change is a key component to the eventual changing of the patient. Therefore, the behavioural change, one has to establish the willingness and the readiness of the addict to change. This is because the patient ought to adhere to medication and this call for a behavioural change (Pilnick & Coleman, 2010). The smoking person has to adhere to the chronic therapies and other medication therapies. There are several stages in the eventual behavioural change and in each stage; there are strategies to be employed. The first strategy would be to teach the patient the benefits of behavioural change. This would be accompanied with giving the patient clear information on the risks that are associated with smoking. This strategy should be used in the first stage that is called pre contemplation. In this stage, the patient is in denial and does not agree with those trying to talk him out of the behaviour of smoking. This may be from the fact that the patient has tried to change too often but has been unable. In this stage, the patient has almost given up on trying to quit smoking (Hall & Brody, 2005). In the second stage, the health practitioners should be quick to identify the barriers that may crop up in the mind of the patient and the misconceptions that could hinder the patient from believing what he already knows from the first step. This is because in this stage the patient now weighs the benefits of quitting as he was told in the first step versus the risk. He is also in a state of fear where he fears to change (Bergin & Garfield, 1994). Upon identification of such barriers, the health practitioners are able to identify with the patient and in turn, help the patient. It is also a strategic measure at this point to put in place the appropriate support system. In the third stage which is called preparation in behavioural change. The main strategy is developing realistic goals as well as coming up with a time schedule for when the change should take place. It is also strategic for the health practitioners in this stage to provide some positive reinforcement to the patient so as to ensure that they counter the fear (Coleman, Stevenson & Wilson, 2002). The fourth stage is called action and in this stage, the patient is now ready to change behaviour. He already has started taking some measures so as to change his behaviour. The strategic measure in this stage is for the health practitioners to provide some positive reinforcement (West, 2004). In the fifth and final stage, the patient is now set and they are trying to adapt to the new changes and make the pattern be consistent in the long run. The strategic measure in this stage is for the practitioner to provide encouragement as well as support to the patient (Hall & Brody, 2005). The Other strategies that can be employed are motivational interviewing. This also has five stages and they should be used interchangeably throughout the process of change by the practitioners. A medical practitioner for one should flow with resistance as a strategic measure. This means that for a practitioner to be effective he should not negate resistance but rather he should receive it positively. Resistance is actually a very important measure and it provides information as to what the barriers towards behavioural change are. The forms that resistance could take in a patient are arguing where the patient argues on every information he is given (Bergin & Garfield, 1994). Others resist by blaming situations and their body systems. Others give excuses while others blatantly ignore the information they are given. Other people interrupt the situation unnecessarily while others interrupt what they are told. To all these a strategic practitioner should not confront directly but he should flow with the resistance. In case information is resisted completely the practitioner should employ an alternative technique as a solution (Coleman, Stevenson & Wilson, 2002). The second strategy that is of utmost importance is expressing empathy. This is done by listening to the patient and understanding how he feels. This strategy also calls for the practitioner not to criticize the patient or lay blames on them. This creates rapport and does not make the patient feel out of place (West, 2004). The patient feels respected and he can then very easily confide in the practitioner taking them through the process of behavioural change. Empathy expression is therefore very important tool for any health practitioner to use. The third strategy is avoiding arguments. When the practitioner directly confronts the patient, then the patient becomes defensive and this does not help in the ultimate achievement of the goal (Bergin & Garfield, 1994). When the practitioner argues this means that he is trying to coerce the patient rather than help him recognize his problem and will to change. A practitioner should also develop discrepancy between the intended goal of the patient and his current state of smoking (Coleman, Stevenson & Wilson, 2002). This is a very important strategy that any practitioner ought to develop. When a patient views the discrepancy between their current behaviour and their required behaviour, they tend to be more motivated towards recovery. As a strategy, each and every practitioner should make it a strategy to feed the patient with information that enlarges the discrepancy for quicker recovery (Bergin & Garfield, 1994). This creates a sense of responsibility on the side of the patient. Supporting self efficacy is also a strategic measure that makes the patient see that they are trusted. Self efficacy as earlier stated is the act of the patient believing that they can make it on the way to recovery (Hall & Brody, 2005). It is the self belief that they can sail through. This support is given by the practitioners by realizing and the steps the patient is taking to change their behaviour and this should start from the time the patient contemplates change. The practitioner should always compliment the patient. He should also provide further support by always setting goals that are reachable by the patient. Very high goals set can discourage the patient and therefore be done step by step. It is also very strategic that in goal setting the person should be involved. The practitioner should take them through the process. The practitioner believing that the patient can make it through the changes is very important for it further boosts the confidence of the patient (Pilnick & Coleman, 2010). The final stage of motivational behaviour change is eliciting information. This helps the practitioner to fill any knowledge gaps that are left (West, 2004). Eliciting information means that the practitioner should now get information on change from the practitioner. This makes it possible for the information gaps to be clearly identified and also for the practitioner to gauge the values and the attitude of the practitioner as well as their readiness to change (Hall & Brody, 2005). This information eliciting is a core strategy as it can also be used to create discrepancy as well as building empathy which work together tom create a rapport and create a greater understanding. On the other hand, the practitioner should also allow the patient to elicit information by giving him the freedom to ask questions whenever he does not understand. This further gives the patient a clearer understanding (Coleman, Stevenson & Wilson, 2002). Conclusion It is evident that any practitioner who wills to take the patient through the road of recovery has to travel the same route. This is so because he has to listen intently to the patient and understand their thoughts, attitudes, values and believes. He then has to provide the information that is needed and make sure that the patient takes in and believes in the information. He has to ensure that he does not use coercion at all to derive or deliver information. This thus calls for proper listening and communication skills. With full application of this, the patient is able to reform. References Bergin, A. & Garfield, S. (1994). Handbook of psychotherapy and behaviour change, 4th Ed. New York: J. Wiley Publishers. Coleman, T., Stevenson, K. & Wilson, A. (2002). A new method for describing smokers’ consulting behaviours, which indicate their motivation to stop smoking: an exploration of validity and reliability. Family Practice, 19: 154-160 Hall, C. & Brody, L. (2005). Therapeutic exercise: moving toward function, 2nd Ed. London: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Pilnick, A. & Coleman, T. (2010). ‘Do your best for me’: the difficulties of finding a clinically effective endpoint in smoking cessation consultations in primary care. Health (London), 14: 57-74 West, R. (2004). Assessment of dependence and motivation to stop smoking. British Medical Journal, 328: 338-339 Read More