Project Description: All of us have health behaviors that we know we could improve. Some examples might include: not getting enough sleep, not eating enough vegetables, drinking too much soda instead of water, drinking too much alcohol, smoking/vaping, not flossing enough, not exercising enough, not taking time for relaxation or meditation, etc.
Pick one health behavior that you would like to improve. This can mean doing less of something you feel is detrimental (e.g., smoking), or more of an activity that you feel would enhance your well-being (e.g., meditation). It does NOT need to be a behavior on my short list of examples. It also does NOT need to be a behavior that other people (e.g., friends, family, your doctor) have encouraged you to change. Pick something that *you* genuinely want to change. However, make sure you are focusing on one specific behavior and that your goal is specific (also see handout 1).
Timeline:
Baseline period: 1/25, 1/26, 1/27
30-day intervention phase: 1/28-2/28
Assignment submission deadline: 3/5 at 6 pm.
You should be keeping track of outcomes all throughout the intervention. This plan would give you a few days to finish answering the brief post-assessment questions and gather the rest of your materials to submit the assignment. Note that you can start reflecting and working on the post-assessment questions before the end of the intervention. I think this is plenty of time, but if you want to give yourself more time, you can start a few days early and adjust the plan accordingly. I don’t recommend starting later than this.
Pre-intervention/Baseline period: Before the assessment phase, you will collect baseline data for 3-days about your behavior in this particular area. For example, if you choose to focus on eating vegetables, you would get a baseline measure of your number of daily vegetable servings. As another example, if you want to focus on drinking water vs. other beverages, you would get a baseline measure of the ratio of water and other beverages you consume daily for the 3-day period. Reflect on the pre-intervention items below before you begin the intervention, and complete handout 1 (goal description and contract) and handout 2 (barriers to change).
Intervention phase: After the 3-day baseline, begin the intervention phase in which you actively try to achieve health behavior change. Record data each day during the 30 days to document your progress. This could mean recording the behavior itself (e.g., how much water you drank) or it could mean documenting an outcome (e.g., keeping a log of how you feel, rating your stress on a level from 1-5, tracking your heart rate, etc) or a combination of things.
Post-intervention: At the end of the assessment phase, you will complete the post-assessment items.
Submit a full report that includes documentation of your progress, completed handouts, and responses to the pre and post-assessment items by the assignment due date.
**Note that some of the questions will not apply to every potential health habit. If a question doesn’t make sense for your topic, just explain why it doesn’t apply.
Pre-intervention (also complete handouts 1 and 2)
What is the health behavior that you would like to change?
Why do you want to change? What are some potential benefits of changing the behavior?
Have you tried to change this behavior in the past? What were your experiences like?
What are the most significant barriers to change for you? (you can reference handout 2) How can you reduce those barriers?
To refine your goals: can you find any general medical recommendations for the behavior?
What incentives might you give yourself to change? If you feel it is appropriate, come up with a reward that you will give yourself if you successfully achieve your goals.
What cues to action might you employ? In other words, how can you remind yourself of your goals throughout the intervention?
Explain what you need to do to ensure that your goal is achievable and your plan for accomplishing this.
Explain exactly how you will measure your behavior and improvement over the intervention period.
During 30-day intervention—collect daily data and document experience through charts, graphs, journal entries, etc.
Post-Intervention
Were you successful in achieving your goal? If not, why do you think this was the case? At any point over the course of the intervention, did you need to adjust your plan? If so, explain why.
What were the greatest challenges you faced?
What are some things that helped you achieve the goal?
Do you think you can maintain this health behavior change going forward? What is necessary to make maintenance achievable?
Do you think that other people would benefit from making this health behavior change? How do you think we as a society could promote this health change and make it accessible for people?
Handouts (remember to submit these with the rest of your assignment!)
Handout 1
Goal setting handout.docx
Handout 2:
Barriers to Change.docx