Health behaviour change theory meets falls prevention: Feasibility of a habit-based balance and strength exercise intervention for older adults

ObjectivesAdvance care planning is a key preparatory step in ensuring high-quality palliative and end of life care, and should be considered as a process, beginning with community-level conversations among lay persons. There is, however, indication that death talk among community-dwelling adults is not occurring, and there is a dearth of research examining why this is the case. This study aims to provide the first examination of barriers and facilitators to talking about death and dying among community-dwelling adults in a UK region (Northern Ireland), and to provide a novel application of health behaviour change theory towards developing a theoretical understanding of the sources of this behaviour.MethodsQualitative analysis of responses (n=381 participants) to two open-ended questions within a cross-sectional mixed-methods online survey, with recruitment via social media of adults currently living in Northern Ireland. Reflexive thematic analysis was conducted on open text responses per question, with the barriers and facilitators mapped on to health behaviour change models.ResultsThe findings evidence a myriad of barriers and facilitators to engaging in death talk, with themes aligning to areas such as lack of acceptance of death in social contexts and fear of upsetting self or others, and a need to improve interpersonal communication skills for facilitating conversations and improve knowledge of the death system. A theoretical understanding of the determinants of death talk is presented with findings mapped across the majority of components of the COM-B Behaviour Change Model and the Theoretical Domains Framework. ConclusionsThis study contributes to a small but emergent research area examining barriers and facilitators to talking about death and dying. Findings from this study can be used to inform new public health programmes towards empowering adults to have these conversations with others in their community.

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Systematic Review of Behaviour Change Theories Implementation in Dietary Interventions for People Who Have Survived Cancer

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu13020612 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 612

Author(s):

Jana Sremanakova ◽

Anne Marie Sowerbutts ◽

Chris Todd ◽

Richard Cooke ◽

Sorrel Burden

Keyword(s):

Cancer Survivors ◽

Behaviour Change ◽

Cognitive Theory ◽

Dietary Intervention ◽

Cochrane Review ◽

Change Theory ◽

Behaviour Change Techniques ◽

Limited Information ◽

Dietary Interventions ◽

Behaviour Change Theory

Background: An increasing number of dietary interventions for cancer survivors have been based on the behaviour change theory framework. The purpose of this study is to review the use and implementation of behaviour change theories in dietary interventions for people after cancer and assess their effects on the reported outcomes. Methods: The search strategy from a Cochrane review on dietary interventions for cancer survivors was expanded to incorporate an additional criterion on the use of behaviour change theory and updated to September 2020. Randomised controlled trials (RCT) testing a dietary intervention compared to the control were included. Standard Cochrane methodological procedures were used. Results: Nineteen RCTs, with 6261 participants (age range 44.6 to 73.1 years), were included in the review. The Social Cognitive Theory was the most frequently used theory (15 studies, 79%). Studies included between 4 to 17 behaviour change techniques. Due to limited information on the mediators of intervention and large heterogeneity between studies, no meta-analyses was conducted to assess which theoretical components of the interventions are effective. Conclusions: Whilst researchers have incorporated behaviour change theories into dietary interventions for cancer survivors, due to inconsistencies in design, evaluation and reporting, the effect of theories on survivors’ outcomes remains unclear.

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Behavioural interventions delivered through interactive social media for health behaviour change, health outcomes, and health equity in the adult population

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews ◽

10.1002/14651858.cd012932.pub2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jennifer Petkovic ◽

Stephanie Duench ◽

Jessica Trawin ◽

Omar Dewidar ◽

Jordi Pardo Pardo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Health Outcomes ◽

Health Equity ◽

Behaviour Change ◽

Health Behaviour ◽

Adult Population ◽

Behavioural Interventions ◽

Health Behaviour Change

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Critical health response in the time of COVID-19: lessons from the past

South African Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1177/00812463211015047 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 51 (2) ◽

pp. 336-345

Author(s):

Rabia Ruby Patel ◽

Tanya Monique Graham

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Behaviour Change ◽

Health Behaviour ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Personal Responsibility ◽

Good Health ◽

Community Empowerment ◽

The South ◽

Change Models ◽

Health Behaviour Change

This article examines the South African government’s response to COVID-19 by exploring the strong emphasis that has been placed on South Africans taking personal responsibility for good health outcomes. This emphasis is based on the principles of the traditional Health Belief Model which is a commonly used model in global health systems. More recently, there has been a drive towards other health behaviour change models, like the COM-B model and Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW); nonetheless, these remain entrenched within the principles of individual health responsibility. However, the South African experience with the HIV epidemic serves as a backdrop to demonstrate that holding people personally accountable for health behaviour changes has major pitfalls; health risk is never objective and does not take place outside of subjective experience. This article makes the argument that risk-taking health behaviour change in the South African context has to consider community empowerment and capacity building.

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