Applying the model to practice (TTM) Flashcards
What are the characteristics of an individual in the pre-contemplation stage, using unhealthy eating and smoking as examples?
1) Unhealthy eating - an individual at this stage regularly eats fast-food and takeaways after work as a way to save time and due to tiredness at the end of a long working day. They are not ready to change their behaviour and do not see the negatives of this behaviour as being particularly important and that the positives (saving time/energy etc.) outweigh the negatives.
2) Smoking - in the pre-contemplation stage, the person is happy being a smoker and intends to continue smoking.
What are the characteristics of an individual in the contemplation stage, using unhealthy eating and smoking as examples?
1) Unhealthy eating - the individual becomes aware that a high fast-food diet is very unhealthy, begins to look more closely at behaviour and realises he may be putting his health at risk. However, at this point he sees the pros and cons of his unhealthy eating behaviours as roughly equal and is not yet ready to make any substantial changes to his behaviour, until he goes through a process called “self-evaluation” when he realises that he wants to lose weight/eat healthier and that this becomes more important than the negatives associated with this behavioural change. He has also noticed that some of his clothes don’t fit him properly anymore, and that when he plays sports with colleagues after work he struggles to keep up with them (environmental re-evaluation). It is this environmental re-evaluation process that often pushes individuals towards the next process - social and self-liberation - this is when perceived self-efficacy begins to increase as the individual begins to envisage how behavioural change will fit into their life and what that would look like.
2) Smoking - the person may have noticed they have been coughing a lot, getting more chest infections etc., or have noticed the negative effects on their finances from smoking regularly, and will start to think about/contemplate giving up smoking or cutting down/changing their behaviour.
What are the characteristics of an individual in the preparation and planning stage, using unhealthy eating and smoking as examples?
1) Unhealthy eating - the individual has made some changes such as cutting out junk food and beginning to eat healthier meals. He has informed friends and family of his intentions to lose weight and eat healthier and has gathered a support network around him that will help him stick to his goals.
2) Smoking - the person may stop associating with others who smoke e.g. stop going to the pub, may buy lower tar cigarettes or make an appointment with the GP to discuss smoking cessation.
What are the characteristics of an individual in the action stage, using unhealthy eating and smoking as examples?
1) Unhealthy eating - the individual has started to regularly eat healthy packed lunches and has stopped eating junk food. This stage requires a lot of effort to continue with the new change, and strategies at this stage for continuing the behaviour include counter conditioning - replacing unhealthy behaviours, e.g. having a milkshake at work, with healthy alternatives, such as having a homemade fruit smoothie instead, and reinforcement management (increasing the rewards for the positive behaviour and decreasing for negative behaviour).
2) Smoking - the person has taken measures to stop smoking, e.g. has actively quit.
What are the characteristics of an individual in the maintenance stage, using unhealthy eating and smoking as examples?
1) Unhealthy eating - the individual has successfully kept up the behavioural change of eating healthy meals and cutting out junk food for approximately six months, but must continue to use reinforcement management and stimulus control to ensure the change continues, e.g. the individual weighs himself every week to make sure he stays a healthy weight.
2) Smoking - the person has not smoked for 4 months for example.
What interventions can be used to help people with behavioural change who are in the pre-contemplation stage?
Motivational interviewing, which encourages individuals to think about the positives and negatives of their current behaviours and why engaging in healthier behaviour could benefit themselves and others, and drawing up a list of the pros and cons of their behaviours.
What interventions can be used to help people with behavioural change who are in the contemplation stage?
Encouraging individuals to reduce the negatives associated with behavioural change and place more emphasis on the positives.
What interventions can be used to help people with behavioural change who are in the preparation and planning stage?
Advising individuals to have clear and consistent plans, to start slowly and steadily and build up until the behavioural change is fully incorporated into their life, as well as providing encouragement and support as many individuals at this stage are concerned about their competence in changing behaviour and worry about potential failure.
What interventions can be used to help people with behavioural change who are in the action stage?
Strengthening a person’s commitment to the healthy behaviour which will stop them slipping back through the stages, as well as advising on techniques to enhance commitment, e.g. acknowledge the steps taken, avoiding people who may encourage them to engage in previous unhealthy behaviour etc.
What interventions can be used to help people with behavioural change who are in the maintenance stage?
Encouraging people to share their experiences and to seek support from others who behave in healthy ways, as well as advising on the importance of self-awareness to monitor for situations that may cause them to slip back into unhealthy patterns of behaviour. It is also important to foster/encourage self-efficacy/self-confidence that they can overcome any obstacles and threats and continue with the healthy behaviour.
