Health Campaigns to Use to Explain Models of Behaviour Change Essay

In this report it will investigate at least three recent health education campaigns and use them to explain two models of behaviour change. The three recent health education campaigns will be ‘Smoke Free’, ‘Change4Life’ and ‘FRANK’. The two models of behaviour change will be the theory of reasoned action and the stages of change model. For a health educator to carry out their role effectively, they should understand the complicated processes which may influence an individual to change their behaviour. This theory gives an outline that looks at the attitudes which strengthen behaviours. It suggests that the most significant cause of an individual’s behaviour is behaviour intent. Behaviour intent is the person’s intention to carry out a behaviour and this depends on their attitude and the subjective norm. The subjective norm is the influences of individuals in somebody’s social environment on their intention to perform the specific behaviour. If an individual believes that the outcome of taking on a behaviour will be positive, they will have a positive attitude towards the particular behaviour. If other individuals who are important to that person also believe that this behaviour change is positive, then a positive subjective norm is formed. By having a combination of both the individual believing the outcome of adopting the behaviour will be positive and other individuals believing that the behaviour change is positive, it will be much more likely that the person will follow the health advice. The stages of change model The stages of change model says that the process of behaviour change can be broken down into five stages. The five stages are pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance. Pre-contemplation is when there is no intention to change behaviour in the near future. At this stage individuals are not aware at all or not aware enough of their problems. Contemplation is when individuals are aware that a problem is there and are seriously considering overcoming their problem but they have not yet made commitment to do something about it. At the stage of preparation individuals are intending to do something about it very soon, however have not done anything about it recently. At the stage of action individuals make changes to their behaviour, experiences or environment so that they can overcome their problems. This needs a lot of commitment of time and energy. Maintenance is the stage when individuals work to try and stop relapse and establish what they have gained during action. The model is often shown as a wheel and some individuals may have to go through the process many times to be successful in departing the cycle and attaining a steady and maintained changed behaviour. The following picture shows the wheel of the stages of behaviour change: Smoke Free The following hyperlink is to an online version of the Smoke Free health education campaign: http://smokefree. nhs. uk/advice-and-information/behind-the-campaign/ The Smoke Free health education campaign uses the theory of reasoned action model of behaviour change. The campaign aims to encourage individuals who smoke to quit smoking. If an individual who smokes views the Smoke Free campaign they may realise that if they quit smoking it will have a positive effect on their health and prevent causing serious harm. If they do believe that the outcome of following the health advice provided by the Smoke Free campaign will be positive, for example it will reduce their risk of developing illness, disability or death caused by cancer, heart or lung disease, it will reduce their risk of gangrene or amputation caused by circulatory problems, it will improve fertility levels and it will improve their breathing and fitness etc. They will therefore have a positive attitude towards the behaviour of stopping smoking. Other people who are important to the individual who is considering quitting smoking may also view the campaign and believe the outcome of the person stopping smoking will be positive, for example it will protect the health of those around the individual by not exposing them to second-hand smoke. By the person having a positive attitude and the positive subjective norm, the person will be much more likely to follow the health advice given by the Smoke Free campaign and quit smoking. The Smoke Free campaign also uses the stages of change model. When an individual is trying to quit smoking they will go through the stages of change cycle. At the stage of pre-contemplation the individual who smokes does not have intention to change their behaviour, they may not be aware or not aware enough of the damage that smoking can cause to their body and their smoking problem. At the stage of contemplation the individual may start becoming aware that they have a problem with their smoking and they are seriously considering stopping smoking but they have not yet made commitment to do something about trying to quit smoking. At the preparation stage they are intending to do something about trying to stop smoking very soon, but they have not done anything yet. At the action stage the individual makes changes to their behaviour, so that they can overcome their smoking problem, for example completely stopping smoking, gradually cutting down on smoking, using nicotine replacement therapies such as nicotine patches, nicotine gum, inhalators etc. At the maintenance stage the individual will work to try and stop starting smoking again and they look at what they have gained during the action of changing their behaviour by quitting smoking, such as their health improving. The individual may not be successful with stopping smoking on this occasion, they may relapse and start smoking again, so they might have to go through the process many times before they completely stop smoking. Change4Life The link below is to an online version of the Change4Life health education campaign: http://www. hs. uk/Change4Life/Pages/change-for-life. aspx An individual may follow the advice that the Change4Life health education campaign provides, if they are overweight. The campaign tries to encourage individuals to become more active, eat healthier, drink less alcohol etc. to prevent individuals from becoming seriously overweight, which can increase individuals chances of getting heart disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus and some cancers etc. The Chang e4Life health education campaign uses the theory of reasoned action model of behaviour change. If an individual who is may be overweight sees the Change4Life campaign they may realise the harm that being overweight can cause and they might realise that if they follow the advice of Change4Life it might have positive effects. If the person does believe that by following the advice given by the Change4Life campaign it will result in positive outcomes, for example their weight reduces, their fitness levels improve, the chances of them developing conditions like heart disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus and cancers decrease etc. they may have a positive attitude towards the behaviour of losing weight. Other individuals who are important to the person who is considering losing weight might also see the campaign and believe it will result in positive outcomes for the person trying to lose weight. By the individual who wants to lose weight having a positive attitude and the individuals who are important to them also being positive, the likelihood of the person following the health advice provided by the Change4Life campaign and losing weight will be higher. The Change4Life health education campaign also applies the stages of change model. When a person is trying to lose weight they may go through the stages of change cycle. To begin with the person may not have any intention to change their behaviour because they might not be aware at all or completely aware of the harm that being overweight can cause and their weight problem, which is the pre-contemplation stage. They might start becoming aware that they do have a weight problem and they are seriously considering losing weight, however they have not yet made commitment to do something about trying to lose weight, which is the contemplation stage. At the stage of preparation the person is intending to do something about losing weight, but they have not done anything recently. At the action stage the person makes changes to their behaviour, so that they can overcome their weight problem, such as increasing their exercise levels, changing their diet to make it healthier, reducing their alcohol intake etc. At the stage of maintenance the person will work to try and prevent themselves putting weight back on and they look back at what they have attained during the action of changing their behaviour by losing weight. Below is a hyperlink to an online version of the FRANK health education campaign: http://www. talktofrank. com/ FRANK supports individuals who have a drug addiction, to help them overcome their problems. The FRANK health education campaign uses the theory of reasoned action model of behaviour change. If someone who has a drug addiction views the FRANK health education campaign they might recognise that they have a problem and their addiction can cause serious harm to their body and they may also realise that if they follow the advice that FRANK gives, cause positive effects. If they believe that by following the advice provided by FRANK will cause positive effects, such as their health improving, may be improve their social life and mental health etc. they might have a positive attitude towards the behaviour of stopping taking drugs. Other people who are important to the individual who is thinking about stopping taking drugs may also view the campaign and believe it will have positive effects for the individual trying to stop taking drugs. By both the person who wants to stop taking drugs and the subjective norm having a positive attitude it may mean that the person will stop taking drugs. The FRANK health education campaign also definitely uses the stages of change model. When an individual tries to stop taking drugs they go through the stages of change cycle. To start with the individual might not be planning to change their behaviour, as they are not aware or not aware enough of the damage that taking drugs can do and that they have a drug problem. This is the pre-contemplation stage. They may then begin becoming aware that they do have a drug problem and they are considering stopping taking drugs, but they have not committed themselves to do something about stopping taking drugs yet. This is the contemplation stage. At the preparation stage the individual is planning to do something about stopping taking drugs, however they have not done anything yet. The individual may then make changes to their, to help them overcome their drug problem, for example starting to receive talking therapies when they can talk about their drug problem, motivational treatment approaches, cognitive behavioural therapy, group therapy, being prescribed a safer alternative/substitute to the problem or drug, such as methadone instead of heroin. This is the action stage. At the stage of maintenance the individual will work to try and stop themselves relapsing by taking drugs again and they also find what they have achieved throughout the action of not taking drugs. The person may have to go through the process several times before they are successful in fully recovering from their drug addiction. Not everyone has the same ability to change their health behaviours. This is due to social and economic factors. The social and economic context can influence the ability of health education campaigns to change behaviour in relation to health.