What is maintenance in stages of change model?
OK, so we are a few weeks into 2016, and many of us may already be wavering from our New Year’s resolutions, if not completely forgotten them. Why is it so hard to make changes? James Prochaska, from the University of Rhode Island, has studied this question for more than thirty years, and has applied his theory to many health behaviors, including behaviors important in diabetes management. Show Prochaska has found that people who have successfully made positive change in their lives go through five specific stages: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance.
Most people I work with, who have diabetes, could be categorized in the contemplation stage. They are seriously thinking about life changes, but have not yet made a commitment to take action. Therefore, I think it valuable to further explore this stage. Within each stage, specific actions called, “processes of change,” help someone mentally move through each stage successfully. In the contemplation stage, the processes of change are “consciousness raising” and “self-reevaluation.” Consciousness raising is the process of actively becoming more aware, mindful or conscious of the current situation. Some activities include, keeping a food diary to learn more about how much I am eating, monitoring blood sugar to learn how well or if my treatment plan is working, or reading food labels to learn about how much carbohydrate is in different foods. Self-reevaluation flows naturally from consciousness raising. Self-reevaluation means taking stock or appraisal of the behavior that needs to be changed, and reveals how your values conflict with the problem behaviors. An activity which will help clarify your values, or “why” you want to change is called “decisional balance”. The decisional balance takes into consideration the pros and cons of behavior change. Understanding pros and cons helps one acknowledge that behavior change has good consequences, but requires sacrifice. Take a piece of paper. Divide the paper into two columns. Label one “pros” and the other column “cons”. Under each column answer each question: What will be the consequences of my behavior change be for me?
I once heard a radio interview with James Prochaska. He said that making a behavior change should be approached as if you were getting ready for a major surgery. How much pre-planning would you do? How much support would you solicit from friends and family? How much mental attention would you put towards it? It would be your number one priority, and you would choose a time when there would be nothing else within your control that would take precedence. You would not choose a time when you are making a marital change, job change, major vacation, getting ready to move to a new house, etc. Healthy behavior change is that difficult, and it is that important. By: Donna Webb, RD, LD, CDE Cecelia Health Diabetes Health Coach Cancer Prevention Research Center. University of Rhode Island, 2016. Web. 10 Jan. 2016. Prochaska, J. O. and W. F. Velicer (in press). “The transtheoretical model of health behavior change.” American Journal of Health Promotion. Prochaska, PH.D., James O., John C. Norcross, PH.D., and Carlo C. Diclemente, PH.D. Changing For Good. New York, NY: Harperollins Publishers, 1994. Print. What is maintenance in the Transtheoretical Model?Maintenance - In this stage, people have sustained their behavior change for a while (defined as more than 6 months) and intend to maintain the behavior change going forward. People in this stage work to prevent relapse to earlier stages.
What is an example of maintenance stage?Individuals reach the 'maintenance' phase of the TTM when the positive health behavior, for example, complete abstinence from smoking, is sustained for a period of 6 months or longer (Glanz, Rimer, & Viswanath, 2008). Self-efficacy (or situation-specific confidence) plays an integral role in this stage.
What is action and maintenance stage?Action involves the most overt behavioral changes and requires considerable commitment of time and energy. Maintenance is the stage in which people work to prevent relapse and consolidate the gains attained during action.
Which of the following are part of the maintenance stage of the stages of change model?The maintenance phase of the Stages of Change model involves successfully avoiding former behaviors and keeping up new behaviors. 2 If you are trying to maintain a new behavior, look for ways to avoid temptation. Try replacing old habits with more positive actions.
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