The Transtheoretical Model

One does not have to be endowed with a degree in public health to notice the urgent call for a greater well-being in modern America. Desperate times may call for desperate measures but desperate measures show foul signs of incoherence, and thus are ineffective for desperate times. As a substantial population continues to dwell in consumerism, steadfast in their woeful behavior, a new wave of public health advocates (and fit do-gooders alike) is on the horizon, determined to improve the value and practicality of health promotion interventions via behavioral theory. Limited it is not in its approach for health promotion identification and intervention, encompassing the full range of evidence-based methodologies such as the Health Belief Model, …show more content…
Proschaska and colleagues at the University of Rhode Island conceived the Transtheoretical Model at the tail-end of the 1980’s (decades after the amalgamation of foremost psychotherapy theories) as a dynamic framework of behavior change. By and large, the Transtheoretical Model incorporates six stages of change (precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and termination) in the aim one will adopt a healthier behavior. The stage construct of the Transtheoretical Model is, arguably, best imagined as a mapped cubic curve function (or, simply, as a letter “S") to illustrate how behavioral change is a steady process that unfurls over time, but where individuals may relapse to earlier stages from later ones, a condition understood as regression to situational temptation. The following stages of change are a core component of the Transtheoretical Model: pre-contemplation, the first stage, one where someone exerts no intention and is unmotivated in taking action to change their current behavior, often due to ignorance or demoralization; contemplation, the second stage, asserts people are mindful of the pros and cons of changing, and intend to change their behavior within six months; preparation, the third stage, posits individuals no longer have ambivalence with the behavior change, and intend to fully commit to the measure as soon as possible; action, the fourth stage, indicates individuals have evidently implemented the behavior change into their lifestyles within the past six months and intend to continue exhibiting this new healthy behavior; maintenance, the fifth phase, indicates people have sustained their new, healthier behavior change for an established amount of time (usually more than 3 months) demonstrate ideal cues to maintain the behavior change and prevent relapse to earlier stages; termination, lastly, is often a fickle phase, in that while it posits one is adamant in preserving their healthy behavior change, it is rarely reached

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Transtheoretical Model