PU505: Health Behavior Unit 5 Choosing a Theory Flashcards
What are the guidelines in narrowing down the choices of choosing a theory?
Identify the health issue and the intervention population.
Gather information about the health issue in the intervention population.
Identify possible causes for the health issue in the intervention population.
Identify the level of interaction (intrapersonal, interpersonal, or community) under which the causes most logically fit.
Identify the theory or theories that best match the level and the causes.
What should you remember in determining the program or intervention population? Step 1
Be as specific as possible.
What do you do after determining the programs about the issue and intervention population? Step 2
Gather research and do it on the appropriate databases. See photo.
What do you do after you have done research on the programs that address the issue and your intervention population? Step 3
This will enable you to identify possible causes for the health issue, that is, to answer the question, “Why does this issue exist?” What are the behaviors contributing to or causing the issue? Be specific about the behaviors.
Remember: theories help explain the why of health behavior, that is, why people do what they do.
Why is it some people fall, use alcohol, get head lice, go for mammograms, or drive too fast, and others do not?
After you have determined possible causes for the health issue, with all of your research, what must you do next? Step 4
It is time to determine under which level of interaction these causes fall - intrapersonal, interpersonal, community, or all three.
Why does determining the level of interaction for which causes happen important in choosing the right theory?
Because it allows you to narrow down the list of theories that would most likely explain the behavior and therefore, would best serve as the basis for change.
What is step 5 in this endeavor?
Using the theory chart to help identify which theories would most likely explain the behavior and enable you to plan an intervention to change the behaviors you have identified.
Remember: For a theory to be most effective, all of it should be used. although sometimes constructs from different theories are mixed in the same intervention.
If you end up with more than one possible theory to use, what type of questions should you be asking yourself to narrow down the list? (3)
What (behavior) has this theory explained in the past?
How much evidence is there in the literature to support using this theory to address the issue?
What are the theory’s weaknesses?
While two theories might be equally as good in predicting a particular outcome, in choosing between them it’s also important to know the underlying reason why each predicts the outcome and in which populations.
When you think you have determined which theory would fit best, what questions should you ask yourself?
Is it logical given the problem I am trying to address?
Is it similar to the theories I found in the literature that others used successfully with similar problems?
Is it supported by research?
Choosing a theory is a lot like choosing your clothes. All clothes do the same thing–they cover your body–but they do it in different ways. You choose which clothes to wear depending on a host of factors, such as time of day, climate, occasion, and what your friends are wearing. For example, you wouldn’t wear a bathing suit to shovel snow. Once you decide which clothes to wear, you need to try them on to see if they fit.
It’s important to choose a theory that explains why people engage in a particular unhealthy behavior, but it is equally important to use it when developing programs. Consequently, there should be evidence of the theory’s effectiveness in changing the underlying causes or determinants of the unhealthy behavior, evidence that by changing the underlying causes the unhealthy behavior can be changed to a healthier one, and evidence that the program strategies are effective in changing the theoretical construct domain (Michie et al., 2008)
What is a construct domain?
They are the underlying focus of the construct, such as ability, beliefs in self-efficacy, and social influences in subjective norms. See Health Behavior Folder for Construct Domains.
