AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To describe the importance of, and methods for, successfully conducting and translating research into clinical practice. BACKGROUND There is universal acknowledgement that the clinical care provided to individuals should be informed on the best available evidence. Knowledge and evidence derived from robust scholarly methods should drive our clinical practice, decisions and...

OBJECTIVE To demonstrate that six common errors made in attempts to change behaviour have prevented the implementation of the scientific evidence base derived from psychology and sociology; to suggest a new approach which incorporates recent developments in the behavioural sciences. STUDY DESIGN The role of health behaviours in the origin of the current epidemic of non-communicable disease is...

Health research often aims to prevent noncommunicable diseases and to improve individual and public health by discovering intervention strategies that are effective in changing behavior and/or environments that are detrimental to one's health. Ideally, findings from original research support practitioners in planning and implementing effective interventions. Unfortunately, interventions often f...

This article considers why and how self-knowledge is important to communication about risk and behaviour change by arguing for four claims. First, it is doubtful that genetic knowledge should properly be called 'self-knowledge' when its ordinary effects on self-motivation and behaviour change seem so slight. Second, temptations towards a reductionist, fatalist, construal of persons' futures thr...

For centuries, human self-control has fascinated scientists and nonscientists alike. Current theories often attribute it to an executive control system. But even though executive control receives a great deal of attention across disciplines, most aspects of it are still poorly understood. Many theories rely on an ill-defined set of "homunculi" doing jobs like "response inhibition" or "updating"...

OBJECTIVE It is unclear how best to go about improving child feeding practices. We studied the effect of a novel behaviour change intervention, Gerakan Rumpi Sehat (the Healthy Gossip Movement), on infant and young child feeding practices in peri-urban Indonesia. METHODS The pilot intervention was designed based on the principles of a new behaviour change theory, Behaviour Centred Design (BCD...

As rates of preventable chronic diseases and associated costs continue to rise, there has been increasing focus on strategies to support behavior change in healthcare. Health coaching and motivational interviewing are synergistic but distinct approaches that can be effectively employed to achieve this end. However, there is some confusion in the literature about the relationship between these t...

Fear arousal is widely used in persuasive campaigns and behavioral change interventions. Yet, experimental evidence argues against the use of threatening health information. The authors reviewed the current state of empirical evidence on the effectiveness of fear appeals. Following a brief overview of the use of fear arousal in health education practice and the structure of effective fear appea...

Emerging evidence suggests that antimicrobial prescribing behaviors are influenced by local culture and a prescribing etiquette that is abided by all health care professionals. Local cultural unspoken rules often play a more pivotal role than the recommendations of guidelines and policies drawn up by experts in influencing antimicrobial prescribing. It is important to recognize the key drivers ...

The term question-behavior effect (QBE) refers to the idea that asking individuals about their beliefs and intentions regarding a particular behavior may change that behavior. Two recent systematic reviews (Rodrigues et al., 2015; Wood et al., 2015) set out to assess whether the QBE was a viable intervention for social policy and public health, i.e., can behavior change be brought about just by...