W5 behaviour change functions and techniques Flashcards
The aim of an intervention
Overarching statement of intent
- direction of change (i.e, increase, decrease, maintain)
- specific outcome
- the associated context (e.g., workplace, school, community, faith-based organisations, rural and remote areas)
- demographic (e.g., children, female adolescents, male employees, people with cancer, older adults, retirees, LGTBQI+ adults, immigrants) which is DIRECTLY relevant to the change target
The objective of an intervention
more precise than the aim and reflect the steps necessary to achieve the aim.
Objectives may reflect intervention functions or targeted influences
The function of an intervention
Describes the overall style of approach to change. An intervention may have one or multiple functions.
- Education
- Training
- Persuasion
- Incentivisation
- Coercion
- Restriction
- Modelling
- Environmental Restructuring
- Enablement
Education functions
approaches involve increasing knowledge or understanding.
e. g., TV advertising about national screen time recommendations for young people (with the aim to decrease screen time)
e. g., workplace flyers about the adverse effects of prolonged sitting time (with the aim to decrease sitting time
Training functions
approaches focus on increasing skills.
e. g., providing a supervised exercise program (with the aim to increase exercise)
e. g., providing an instructional video on how to do exercises at home (with the aim to increase exercise)
Persuasion functions
approaches use communication to induce positive or negative feelings, or stimulate action.
e. g., providing (unfavourable) “before” and (favourable) “after” images of people who complete an exercise program (with the aim to increase exercise)
e. g, using testimonials from credible sources about how exercise changed their life for the better (with the aim to increase exercise)
Incentivisation functions
approaches create an expectation of a reward.
e. g., offering a 10th exercise class for free (with the aim to increase exercise)
e. g., having a “most improved” award for people in a sports club (with the aim to maintain sports participation rates)
Coercive functions
approaches create an expectation of punishment or cost.
e. g., having higher health insurance costs for people who don’t exercise (with the aim to increase exercise)
e. g., charging people who do not attend their exercise class (with the aim to maintain exercise class attendance)
Restriction functions
approaches use rules to reduce the opportunity to do the behaviour, or to increase the behaviour by reducing the opportunity to engage in competing behaviours.
e. g., creating family rules which restrict children’s screen time per day (with the aim to decrease screen time)
e. g., a program which restricts how long children can spend using an iPad (with the aim to reduce screen time)
Modelling functions
approaches provide an example for people to aspire to or imitate.
e. g., having a woman lead an “introduction to bicycling” group for women (with the aim to increase women’s bicycling)
e. g., having a professional athlete meet a group of young people at their sports club (with the aim to increase sports participation among young people)
Environmental restructuring functions
approaches change the physical or social context of the behaviour.
e. g., providing dedicated bicycling paths in local communities (with the aim to increase bicycling)
e. g., creating a social networking site for people to share their exercise achievements (with the aim to increase exercise)
Enablement functions
increases the resources, or reduces barriers, to increase capability for the behaviour.
This is other than education, training, or environmental restructuring.
e. g., providing people with an activity tracker to monitor the amount of exercise done (with the aim to increase exercise)
e. g., offering employees subsidies to attend local exercise facilities (with the aim to increase exercise
Behaviour change techniques (BCT)
the observable, replicable and irreducible components of an intervention, i.e. the proposed mechanisms of change.
- BCTs are designed to alter or redirect the processes which regulate behaviour.
- who delivers the BCT (e.g., a peer, expert, trained lay person)
- the mode of implementation (e.g., in person, online, small groups)
- other factors such as frequency, duration, sequencing, etc.
What is a BCT taxonomy
a hierarchically structured classification system of techniques used in behaviour change interventions
provides an internationally shared language for specifying and developing behaviour change interventions
Behaviour change techniques taxonomy enables
- intervention development
- assessment of the mechanisms of action
- the accumulation of evidence and assessment of generalisability
- synthesis of evidence
- faithful implementation of what is effective
- non replication of what is not effective
- testing theories of change
