Behavior change

Most people know they should abstain from smoking, practice safe sex, moderate their drinking, and eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Most who have a chronic illness know that they should make certain lifestyle changes and take their medications as prescribed. Yet far fewer actually do so. What does it take to motivate individuals and populations to follow through in choosing the behaviors that help promote health and prevent or manage illness? That is the core issue that Group Health Research Institute (GHRI) investigators address in a wide range of studies to develop and refine effective interventions to lower behavioral risk factors for diseases, especially chronic ones.

This issue is critical, according to associate investigator Jennifer B. McClure, PhD: "Nearly half of the leading causes of death in our society are attributable to modifiable behaviors such as unhealthy diet, sedentary lifestyle, using tobacco, drugs, or alcohol, and failure to get screened for cancer," she says. Helping individuals understand the relation between behavior and health, make more healthy lifestyle choices, and sustain these changes can be difficult, she acknowledges; but doing so will have a substantial positive impact on health and health care in the United States.

After teaching people to wear bike helmets, and devising the Free & Clear smoking cessation program, GHRI investigators understand that interventions work best when tailored to individuals' needs. In collaborations with researchers from the University of Washington (UW)'s Harborview Injury and Prevention Center, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), Duke University, University of Michigan, and other institutions, GHRI researchers are discovering new ways to help people take better care of themselves—often using new information technologies and innovative intervention models to facilitate behavior change.

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Researchers in behavior change

GHRI

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Affiliate researchers

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Recent publications on behavior change

2008

McAfee TA, Bush T, Deprey TM, Mahoney LD, Zbikowski SM, Fellows JL, McClure JB. Nicotine patches and uninsured quitline callers. A randomized trial of two versus eight weeks. Am J Prev Med. 2008;35(2):103-10. PubMed

Benedict MA, Arterburn D. Worksite-based weight loss programs: a systematic review of recent literature. Am J Health Promot. 2008;22(6):408-16. PubMed

Cheadle A, Egger R, LoGerfo JP, Walwick J, Schwartz S. A community-organizing approach to promoting physical activity in older adults: the southeast senior physical activity network. Health Promot Pract. 2008; [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed

Strecher VJ, McClure JB, Alexander GL, Chakraborty B, Nair VN, Konkel JM, Greene SM, Collins LM, Carlier CC, Wiese CJ, Little RJ, Pomerleau CS, Pomerleau OF. Web-based smoking-cessation programs: results of a randomized trial. Am J Prev Med. 2008;34(5):373-81. PubMed

Alexander G, Divine G, Couper M, McClure JB, Stopponi M, Fortman K, Tolsma D, Strecher V, Johnson C. Effect of incentives and mailing features on online health program enrollment. Am J Prev Med. 2008;34(5):382-388. PubMed

Swan GE, Jack LM, Javitz HS, McAfee T, McClure JB. Predictors of 12-month outcome in smokers who received bupropion sustained-release for smoking cessation. CNS Drugs. 2008;22(3):239-56. PubMed

Arterburn D, Westbrook EO, Wiese CJ, Ludman EJ, Grossman DC, Fishman PA, Finkelstein EA, Jeffery RW, Drewnowski A. Insurance coverage and incentives for weight loss among adults with metabolic syndrome. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2008;16(1):70-6. PubMed

2007

Nguyen HQ, Ackermann RT, Maciejewski M, Berke E, Patrick M, Williams B, LoGerfo JP. Managed-Medicare health club benefit and reduced health care costs among older adults. Prev Chronic Dis. 2008 Jan;5(1):A14. Epub 2007 Dec 15. PubMed

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Our major research interests

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