At the heart of peer health education programs is the assumption that tapping social networks increases adoption of behavior change, yet the communication strategies used by peer educators have not been previously documented to assess the use of social networks in promotion of health messages. Our program in public worksites trained peer health educators to utilize their social networks along w...

Smokers who attend NHS Stop Smoking Services (SSS) are four times more likely to stop smoking; however, uptake has been in decline. We report the development of an intervention designed to increase uptake of SSS, from a more motivated self-selected sample of smokers. In Phase 1 we collected data to explore the barriers and facilitators to people using SSS. In Phase 2, data from extant literatur...

A common assumption underpinning health communications design in humanitarian settings is that increasing knowledge and risk perception will lead to appropriate behaviour change. This study compares associations of HIV knowledge and perceived risk with reported HIV-avoidant behaviour changes and sexual health choices from a community survey of 698 sexually experienced male and female Sierra Leo...

BACKGROUND Behaviour change interventions are effective in supporting individuals in achieving temporary behaviour change. Behaviour change maintenance, however, is rarely attained. The aim of this review was to identify and synthesise current theoretical explanations for behaviour change maintenance to inform future research and practice. METHODS Potentially relevant theories were identified...

Cost-effectiveness analyses (CEAs) of behavioral interventions typically use physical outcome criteria. However, any progress in cognitive antecedents of behavior change may be seen as a beneficial outcome of an intervention. The aim of this study is to explore the feasibility and validity of incorporating cognitive parameters of behavior change in CEAs. The CEA from a randomized controlled tri...

OBJECTIVES To introduce a psychological model of behaviour; the COM-B model and describe how this has been used in combination with the behaviour change wheel (BCW) in developing an intervention which aims to promote regular, long-term use of hearing aids by adults with acquired hearing loss. DESIGN Qualitative structured interview study using the COM-B model to identify the determinants of b...

Background Although studies of health coaching for behavior change in chronic disease prevention and management are increasing, to date no studies have reported on what concepts and skills providers integrate into their clinical practice following participation in health coaching courses. The purpose of this qualitative study was to assess Veterans Health Administration (VHA) providers' percept...

BACKGROUND It is advocated that interventions to improve clinical practice should be developed using a systematic approach and intervention development methods should be reported. However, previous interventions aimed at ensuring that older people receive appropriate polypharmacy have lacked details on their development. This study formed part of a multiphase research project which aimed to dev...

BACKGROUND Cardiovascular disease (CVD) accounts for 30% of UK deaths. It is associated with modifiable lifestyle factors, including insufficient consumption of fruit and vegetables (F&V). Lay health trainers (LHTs) offer practical support to help people develop healthier behaviour and lifestyles. Our two-group pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) investigated the effectiveness of LHTs at pr...

OBJECTIVES To understand the stabilization in HIV prevalence in South Africa, and why HIV prevalence has not declined further, despite behavior change and apparently moderate risk behaviors. STUDY DESIGN HIV prevalence and 4 HIV-related sexual behaviors in 15- to 24-year old South Africans and Ugandans were compared, before and during HIV prevalence stabilization and decrease, respectively. ...